We are using the ABB IRB140 Robot with the RobotStudio software. We develop the necessary robot movements or trajectories to draw (with the aid of a whiteboard marker) our names' initials (i.e: D and S) on a planar surface and over a 30° inclined plane.
- Tool CAD design
- Tool set up in RobotStudio
- Setting up the environment
- Getting trajectories with the
auto-path
wizard - Simulations and physical implementation
In the figure below you will find the final tool. It has 5 main components (apart from the whiteboard marker) and was designed such that the base (black-colored component) could be reused in other projects.
- The tool was 3D printed and its physical properties were calculated according to the printing material and marker's physical characteristics.
- The black-colored component (base) was designed taking into account the Official Robot Tool Flange dimensions.
- The red-colored components were designed so that they prevent the marker's axial rotation and their base design was taken from here.
- The whiteboard marker's CAD was taken from GrabCad.
- In order to use the CAD in RobotStudio you should export the model in .STL format.
-
Import the tool model:
Home > Import geometry > Browse for geometry
-
Match the tool's origin with RobotStudio's world origin.
-
Create a new frame (
Home > Frame > Create Frame
). Set it normal to and at the center of the marker's tip outermost face. -
Create a new Tool object in RobotStudio:
Modeling > Create tool
. Follow the instructions and put in the physical properties obtained before. -
Save the newly created tool as a library so that it can be easily imported on new projects.
From Virtual Controller > New Controller...
Add a new controller for the IRB140 robot and set the appropiate RobotWare version. Then on Import Library > Browse for Library...
import the newly created library and finally attach it to the robot.
First, we create a workobject
which is going to facilitate changing plane's orientation without creating separate targets. Go to:
Home > Other > Create workobject
In order to get our trajectories automatically we first create a CAD model with the desired initials extruded just like the figure below.
After importing and relocating the CAD model to the desired position, we go to Home > Path > AutoPath
. We create the targets selecting the CAD's edges accordingly, putting special care in the Approach and Depart options. In our example we set both to 50mm. We also check the Circular option to get a better path aproximation and to reduce the number of generated targets.
Then, set the tool orientation accordingly to prevent robot singularities.After setting one target's orientation you copy it, select all restant targets and apply this copied orientation.
In order to make the drawing on an inclined surface, we only need to change the workobject orientation and all paths and targets will updated accordingly.
To safely return to a specified home position we create a JointTarget (Home > Target > Create JointTarget
) and we set the Robot axes
parameter all to medium point path
to prevent RobotStudio stucking itself going from home to the first CAD's target. This target is created via the Home > Target > Create Target
and we enter the desired position.
Last on this item, we set all move instructions' speed and error to v500
and zfine
except for the home routine
which is set to v1000 and z50.
drawing-on-floor-sim.mp4
drawing-on-plane-sim.mp4
drawing-on-floor.mp4
Developed by Juan David Díaz García and Steven Gallego.