Additional axes
The add-on MOVIKIT® Robotics AdditionalAxes enables up to 10 axes that do not belong to the kinematic model to be moved synchronously with the path movements. Examples include positioning the jaws of a gripper, synchronous cycle of a rotary table, or positioning an additional, parallel lifting axis on a gantry robot.
In the configuration menu Basic settings of the software module, you can configure how many additional axes are to be controlled. The additional axes must be attached to the software node in the function view, below the robot software node, to the right of the axes belonging to the kinematic model.
For the additional axes, a distinction is made between single axes and joint axes, between which couplings and cranks can be configured. Similar to the axes of the kinematic model, the additional axes can be referenced and moved in jog mode. The motion parameters for the additional axes can be configured in the MotionSets within the RobotMonitor or explicitly assigned using the SRL command SET_MOTION_PARA. See Setting motion parameters.
The SRL command SET_ADD_JOINTS can be used to assign the positions to be approached to the additional joint axes. See Additional joint axes. They are then approached synchronously with the next motion command. Optionally, the command can be converted into a PTP_ADD_JOINTS motion command so that execution of the command also causes movement to the positions of the additional joint axes. For more information, refer to chapter SRL programming.
The motions of the additional joint axes are blended exactly when the synchronously executed translational TCP motion is blended between the neighboring path segments.
The motions of the additional joint axes are true‑to‑path in the sense that, regardless of the configured motion parameters or, for example, the override, they always reach the same corresponding position at every point along the robot’s path. Following an interruption, the TCP and the additional joint axes are returned precisely to this path using BackToPath and motion is resumed exactly along the same path.
