When you first choose to automate, it can be very overwhelming to navigate all of the programming of different details and functions, which can be the difference between effective automation and an opportunity wasted. Many companies offer technical support, but we thought we'd give you a quick How-to for one of the simplest tasks when it comes to getting started with cobots. In todays blog post, we will be guiding you through the Universal Robots Quick Start function.
Before anything:
Mount the Robot securely using 4 M8 bolts.
Connect the robot to the control box with the robot cable supplied, ensuring it is securely attached to both sockets on the control box and robot.
Plug the controller into the mains with the included 3-pin power cable.
Startup:
Turn on the mains and press the power button on the top of the teach pendant, the robot will boot up.
The following screen will pop-up after booting:
Click on the red power button in the bottom left corner.
The following window will pop up:
Press the ON button and the robot will change to an Active state:
Then press start and the window will change to this with the robot fully powered up:
The robot has now initialised and is ready to be setup, you can now press on the exit button.
Before creating a program, press on the configure robot installation button.
You will be met with the following screen:
The first thing to do is configure the TCP for your tool - you can either enter it manually if it is known or press on the wizard button and follow the instructions given, then it will be automatically calculated by the robot.
Next is to set the Centre of Gravity and Payload. Again, this can be done by entering it manually if it is known or by following the steps given in the wizard and it will be automatically calculated by the robot.
Make sure to save the installation after setting the TCP, CoG and Payload values.
Once these are set up correctly we must make sure our tooling is setup properly. As an example, we will use a Robotiq 2 finger gripper.
For many UR+ compatible tools, they have a piece of software that operates on the robot to control its functionality and adds commands to the programming environment. This piece of software is called the URCap.
For Robotiq grippers, a single URcap can be used for any of the grippers. This can be found on the Robotiq support website and will be similar for other gripper manufacturers.
Once downloaded, the .zip file needs to be ‘unzipped’ and the URCap software can be copied onto a USB stick.
To install the URCap, simply plug the USB stick into a USB port on the robot (the port on the teach pendant is easiest) and navigate to the menu button in the top right corner (3 lines), then press on settings.
Once in the settings menu, click on system, then URCaps:
To add a URCap press the plus button at the bottom of the window and navigate to the urcap file on the USB stick and click open. This will add the URCap to the robot, but the robot will need to restart to fully install the URCap. Hit restart and the robot will do the rest automatically.
Once restarted, the robot is ready to be programmed!
Navigate to the program tab and you will notice that it is quite empty:
From here, you can programme your robot to complete a never ending variety of tasks, ranging from pick and place applications and machine tending to finishing tasks. Ultimately, you can programme your cobot to do whatever you need it to do - voila!
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