Controlling a transport device by the robot

It is possible to combine the degrees of freedom of a robot and a transport device. The robot can thus approach path points (e.g. of a workpiece) that would not be accessible to the robot without combination with the transport device. For this purpose, a rotary table is automatically aligned with the setting "USER_ControlledByRobot" in such a way that the path points in the BASE coordinate system are approached when Y = "0" on the side facing the robot. In terms of application, it is important to ensure that the center of the rotary table is not traversed by the path of the robot in the USER coordinate system because in that case the rotary table would generally have to rotate at infinite speed. Generally, the closer the path is to the center of the rotary table, the faster it must rotate. Such problems can be avoided, for example, by prepositioning the rotary table and by path points at a sufficient distance from the center of the rotary table.

When using a robot with limited degrees of freedom in general, switching into or out of the "USER_ControlledByRobot" coordinate system is possible only when the rotary table is in an idle state. If the rotary table is not in an idle state, the robot may need to perform compensation motions that are not possible with its degrees of freedom. That generally requires an idle state for the robot as well. However, with a suitable choice of robot paths and suitable prepositioning of the rotary table, it is possible to change the coordinate system even when the robot is moving.

The "BackToPath" function cannot be used in the current version of the software in this context, since the rotary table is not yet automatically repositioned to continue the path smoothly after the interruption. If the SRL program is interrupted during the procedure in the coordinate system "USER_ControlledByRobot", the current SRL program must be stopped and a new program must be started, e.g. for moving clear.