Posts by loctran96

Quote from SkyeFire

Archives do not store Mastering Data. Or, rather, not trusted Mastering Data.

On KRCs, Mastering Data is stored in two parallel copies -- one on the hard drive, and one on the RRDC EEPROM in the base of the robot arm. During a controlled powerdown, using the batteries, the data on both ends is updated.

But when the batteries are dead, this update cannot take place. So when the robot boots back up, the two data do not match, and as a safety precaution, the KRC treats the Mastering Data it does have as unreliable. The only way to fix this is to re-Master the axes.

The way to prevent this is to ensure the batteries are in good condition. Normally, they need to be replaced every 3 years.

If your linear axis is made by KUKA, there should be an EMT gauge mounted to it somewhere, just like each axis of the robot. If it's a non-KUKA axis, then there should be a mastering pin, or mark, that you can use with the Dial Mastering menu option.

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So we did remaster the Robot today and will proceed to do additional check.

I'm aware of the batteries in the cabinet used to allow for the system to be properly powerdown, not causing any data loss. But after the outage and after booting up the robot, there's no error message about the batteries low voltage so I'm quite unsure if it's just the outage that could cause the data loss, or whether it's also because of the batteries. That being said, We will replace the batteries soon, to prevent this happening in the future.

Thank you

Hi everyone,

I'm currently using a KR100-2P with KL1500-2 linear axis, KRC 2 Ed05 (V5.6.9).

The robot was running a program today and we had a power outage. When the power's back and we turned the robot on, KRC notified "Performing Mastering" for all axes, including our E1.

We checked the "Monitor->Rob. Position->Axis Specific" and all value is at 0 (when it shouldn't be because all the axis are not in their 0 value position).

So, we took an archive ALL right afterward, replacing it with another archive ALL we made about 2 months ago, then proceeded to Restore ALL. But after re-booting and checking "Axis Specific" values, they are all at 0.

So I'm thinking that the Archive ALL didn't include the mastering data of the robot. And I wonder if we could find and restore that configuration. Or if we need to re-master the robot.
Currently, the robot is the position where it was performing the program, should I jog the robot out of the way?

And if we were to re-master the robot, I'm unsure of how to proceed for the linear track, as it's now not in its 0 value position.

Edit: We found out that the track has a mastering mark for the carriage so maybe that would work. Please let me know if I'm wrong

Quote from panic mode

have no experience with SprutCam and without knowing what the robot program looks like or if the compensation is done on the robot, one can only guess.

All KUKA guides on linear rail installation that i encountered insisted on making the rail level. then theoretical model in CAD/CAM and reality are easier to match. but it is also conceivable that someone did measure the rail and number of points, fed them into a table and have script that interpolates E1 position and corrects the Z value (or also X and Y or rotations too).

it is also possible that someone simply stated that compensation does exist but it is not really there. maybe it is not even necessary for the particular process tolerances. have you tried taking any measurements to quantify the differences? without knowing what data you are looking for, it will be much harder to find it.

it also depends if this CNC a single 25m long machine (making giant shafts, or naval cannons for capital ships etc) that robot need to correctly track along the entire length.. OR the robot is used for loading bunch of CNCs that are lined up along the linear track. most CNCs are reasonably small with door opening that is maybe 1m wide or so. so for most scenarios robot E1 would need to come to a specific place and then robot would tend that machine, in this case, it would be sufficient to make single frame (base) to offset points at that one machine. one would need to do the same for others.

so far there is no clear idea what the process is, what the deviations look like, what the CNC setup looks like etc. all we know is that SprutCam is used to generate code. that code may already contain compensation. or maybe compensation is done on a robot. since there is nothing for us to look at, this is all in your hands.

and just to bring this up as well - maybe the compensation is real but it was done after export from SprutCam but before delivering programs to the robot. previous engineer could have simply created own program or script that does the corrections. and he may have decided to remove that program when he was leaving.

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Understandable. I just wanna narrow down where to look, whether the "mapping" would be in KUKA system or from SprutCAM. It seems like these data would more likely come from SprutCAM setup files or the scripts, I'll look more into that.
Thank you guys so much.

Quote from panic mode

take the archive and look for clues. optionally post it here.

btw if the system was setup by a previous engineer, and it was working - what changed? did someone remove and lay down the linear rail again? was the system relocated?

I'm suspecting that the data is stored in the configuration files on SprutCAM, where the previous engineer could've made modifications in the set-up. I've heard from the higher-ups that (1) the rail has always been uneven but the previous engineer made the "mapping" to compensate for it on software and (2) it has been used in production

My problem is (1) I have no idea what specific file I'm looking for so I'm trying to dig through each config files. (2) The previous engineer saved the all the work-related files (2 year worth) without any organization whatsoever so everything is all over the place, some files are even lost.
When I got the job, there was no real hand-over, I had to look at everything from scratch and figure out how to make things run using the most recent SprutCAM set-up (but it seems like this one has no "mapping" implemented). So I'm digging through years worth of previous set-up and comparing the differences to see which set-up actually had that compensation.

I dont know if I'm making sense anymore. At this point, this "mapping" sounds like a myth that everyone keeps telling each other and no one to actually confirms it. I just want to up-root everything and re-level the track again.

Quote from panic mode

why not install rail properly? make it level and even. then no compensation is needed.

That would be ideal and what I want to do, instead of adding compensation. However the higher ups don't want to spend too much time re-leveling the rail and they told me that "the previous engineer made it works", so that's why im looking into it.
But it still would be best if I can just re-level the whole thing.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently using a KR100-2P with KL1500-2 linear axis, KRC 2 Ed05 (V5.6.9) and we do CNC works on SprutCAM12.

The linear exenternal axis is running along a 25-meter track, and currently the track is not even (some spots are lower/higher than others) while the carriage itself still works fine.

I've heard that the previous engineer used "mapping" to compensate for the uneven of the track, but I have no idea where that information is stored. The system was set up by the previous engineer who left no document and I have no way to contact him.

I have looked through the manuals and no specific information about this "mapping", only for "external kinematics calibration" (which I'm assumed is the calibration of the relative position/orientation of an external kinematics to the robot, not of the straightness of the track). I'm trying to find out whether this "mapping" would be in the KUKA systems or would be in the SprutCAM processor. Or is there any keyword that could help me learn some information on this.

Thank you so much.

Hi everyone,

I'm using an old KRC2 ed05 and it recently just had an error "284 Accu Voltage at PM1 below 22 volts during last buffering". So I read up the manuals and it says I might need to replace them soon if the error shows up again.

I know that we will need 2 12V-5Ah SLA batteries. But other than that, do I need to look at any other specifications (rechargable, cyclic use, standby voltage, initial current, etc.)?

Hi everyone,

I'm new to KUKA and recently taken a Robotic Engineer job that works with an old KR100-2P KUKA robot (running on a KRC 2 E05). The robot was already used when it was bought (2 years ago) and the previous engineers left before I started working (nobody else in the factory knows how to use this robot, I only have experience with ABB robots), so I don't have any materials related to the KR100-2P maintenance manuals. Does anyone has manuals that cover this? (oil changes, brake check, etc.)

Please let me know if you need any further information about the system.

Thank you all.