Nick Hunt Manager
Automotive Technology and Support, ABB Robotics Auburn Hills, MI
nick.j.hunt@
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New Programming Tools Can Extend Robotic Automation Capabilities
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Manufacturing Engineering: What new developments in software are coming from your company? Nick Hunt: Each year we release new software features, add-ons and general enhancements. Our core robot operat- ing system is called RobotWare, and our offline programing system is called RobotStudio. These products are designed to interact seamlessly, but also with complete autonomy. For RobotWare, there are a number of new features, commands and support for applications ranging from arc welding to fieldbus I/O messaging to non-tactile sensor and GUI inter- face technology.
tured and analyzed from within the user-defined pre-process routine. Then the FlexPendant enunciates the fault to the operator. However, the fault details have in effect already been analyzed by a welding engineer. The standardized RobotWare Arc error message now shows a ‘Recovery Menu’ in place of the standard ‘Resume’ button. When the operator selects the Recovery Menu op- tion, a very specific list of recovery methods is presented. The operator doesn’t have to worry about getting someone with a different skillset to jog the robot out of the workpiece and reset the system. That’s a cumbersome process which
“SoftMove leverages our motion control technology by allowing the robot to be compliant in one direction or plane while remaining stiff in others.”
One very important aspect of any program is the ability to act intelligently on unscheduled events, such as equipment faults or the overlooked arithmetic error. If dealt with during automatic operation, no human will need to be bothered at- tending to it. The RobotWare RAPID language has always pro- vided extensive error-handling support; but the latest release of RobotWare Arc, for example, gives programmers the ability to define their own arc-welding trap routines, both pre- and post-fault enunciation.
If a weld fault occurs, the robot position and fault informa- tion from the welding power supply are automatically cap-
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can lead to other issues not even related to the original fault condition, not to mention the added downtime while waiting for help. Oh by the way, when the appropriately skilled per- son arrives, a troubleshooting process is still required before recovery can begin.
By pre-handling the fault analysis and recovery decisions, the skill level of the operator is effectively elevated to that of a welding application engineer. In my experience, automatic fault handling and recovery isn’t given near the attention it de- serves, especially during the application development phase. Intelligent recovery makes it easier to design-in expertise that
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