Bin Picking Tutorial: Setting up Photoneo Bin Picking Studio with FANUC robots
1. Prerequisites
Please make sure that your Fanuc controller meets following criteria:
- System version 8.10 and higher (Versions 6.40 - 7.70 are also supported with certain limitations)
- R632 Karel - Karel option available
- R648 User Socket Msg - Socket Communication option available
Click Menu -> Status -> Version ID -> Next -> F3[ORDER FI] to verify that required options are installed on robot controller:
2. Fanuc Controller Setup
2.1 Set IP Addresses of Ethernet Ports
As a first step we need to configure controller IP addresses of robot controller.
On Pendant Press Menu -> Setup -> Host Comm -> TCP/IP:
Two Ethernet ports should be available, it is recommended to configure Port#1 for communication with Vision Controller. Adapt an IP address of Port#1 to meet you network configuration:
If you use ROBOGUIDE for workcell commisioning, configure Port#2 for transferring files between robot controller and your PC. Adapt an IP address of Port#2 to meet you network configuration:
2.2 Configure TCP/IP Server
Photoneo Fanuc Module requires State Server to run as a background task on the robot controller. Configured TCP/IP server is necessary for this purpose.
Press Menu -> Setup -> Host Comm -> F4[SHOW] and select Servers
Select S3 slot - we keep S1 and S2 slots reserved for user application.
Configure TCP/IP server S3 as shown in the figure below:
2.3 Configure TCP/IP Client
The main Photoneo Bin Picking application works in client mode. Configured TCP/IP Client is necessary for this purpose.
Press Menu -> Setup -> Host Comm -> F4[SHOW] and select Clients
Select C3 slot - we keep C1 and C2 slots reserved for user application.
Configure TCP/IP client C3 as shown in the figure below:
2.4 Change Cartesian Origin of Robot
The Cartesian origin of Fanuc robots is different than the Cartesian origin of robot models used in the Photoneo Binpicking Studio. In order to ensure successful calibration, we need to apply predefined offset in Z axis in UFRAME.
Press Menu -> Next -> System -> Variables and scroll down until you find system variable named GROUP. (Use Shift button to speed up scrolling)
Press Enter to open GROUP menu and select UFRAME option as shown in the figure below:
Edit the Z value according to the Offset table below and the arm you are using for your application.
A table of offsets for specific robot models is shown in the figure below:
NOTE: Be careful since this change might affect your previously taught Cartesian positions !!!
2.5 Load Photoneo Fanuc Module Files
The Photoneo Fanuc Interface consists of two Karel binaries and approximately 20 TP programs. All these files needs to be copied to robot controller in order to get Photoneo Fanuc Module up and running.
Extract Photoneo Fanuc Module archive (.zip file) which you received with Photoneo Bin Picking Studio to the USB stick and plug it to Teach Pendant.
Press Menu -> File -> File -> F5[UTILS] and select Set Device:
Select USB on TP (UT1:) option as shown in the figure below:
Press F2[DIR] to open Photoneo Fanuc Module directory:
Select *.*(all files) and press F3[LOAD] and YES to load all the files from Photoneo Fanuc Module to the robot controller:
Press Select button to verify that all TP and Karel programs were successfully loaded:
2.6 Enable Autostart of State Server
As a next step we need to configure State Server to start automatically after boot.
Press Menu -> Next -> System -> Variables and scroll down to find SHELL_CFG variable
Edit SHELL_NAME and SHELL_EXT to the state as shown in the figure below:
Cycle power to apply all changes. Press FCTN -> NEXT -> CYCLE POWER and confirm YES.
If everything was set correctly you should see that PHOSTATE: Waiting for connection on the User screen immediately after the boot:
2.7 Teach Home, Start and End positions
A crucial step of bin picking configuration is related to teaching home, start, and end poses. Home position of robot should be taught in a way that robot is outside of the scanning area. Start position should be taught in a way in which robot gripper is approximately above the center of the bin. End position can be similar to start position or slightly shifted towards placing area. Do not place end pose far away from bin since it might significantly affect dynamic trajectory planning, increase total planning time and cause planning errors.
Press Data to visualize Data Registers screen. As you can see on the figure below, Photoneo Fanuc Module has automatically added comments to Data Registers R[1] - R[24] that are utilized for bin picking application.
NOTE: Prevent using registers R[1]-R[24] in your application!!!
In order to switch from Standard Registers to Position Registers press F1[TYPE] -> Position Registers
Similarly to Standard Registers, Photoneo Fanuc Module has automatically added comments to Position Registers utilized for bin picking application. As you can see in the figure below - Photoneo Fanuc Module utilize PR[1]-PR[9] for home, start, end + calibration positions and PR[20]-PR[120] for trajectory transfers. PR[10]-PR[19] are left free for user application.
NOTE: The default range of position registers is usually PR[1] - PR[100]. For proper functionality of Photoneo Fanuc Module it is highly recommended to increase the range up to 120 position registers or more. Since this is a maintenance operation, please contact your local Fanuc support to help you with this step. Be careful since you might loose your previously taught positions and other register data during this operation!
Jog robot to Home position, select PR[1] and press Shift + F3[RECORD] to record position to PR[1]. You should see that asterisk has changed to R sing after successful operation.
For proper operation we need to switch internal position representation from Cartesian to Joint. In order to achieve that press F4[Position] ->F5[REPRE] -> Joint
Confirm switching position representation by pressing Continue. Repeat the same procedure for Start and End poses.
NOTE: If you utilize Calibration poses in your application, these don't need to be switched to Joint representation.
At this point your Robot Controller is configured to work with Photoneo Binpicking Studio. However you should adapt the VAL3 code to meet the precise requirements of your application. This may involve updating part placing or application logic, etc. The following section of the tutorial provides some basic examples of how this can be programmed as well as a detailed explanation of the Photoneo TP API.
3. TP API
4. Runtime
Now you are ready to start the bin picking application. Press Select button and choose PHO_MAIN program.
Make sure that the Bin Picking application on the Vision Controller side is running and waiting for a connection.
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Start the PHO_MAIN program in Manual or Auto mode and if everything was configured properly you should see that PHOCLIENT has established connection with Vision Controller.