Bin Picking Tutorial: Introduction to Robot Interfaces

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The main goal of this tutorial is to provide general introduction to Robot Interfaces for Photoneo BP Solution.

It is highly recommended to read this tutorial before proceeding to specific robot interface installation !!!

Architecture

Photoneo Bin Picking Solution is compatible with industrial manipulators of various robotic vendors. In order to achieve this interchangeability, we leverage plugin based approach and provide Client implementations for each supported robotic brand. For example, if you order Photoneo Bin Picking solution for your ABB robot, in addition to pre-configured Vision Controller with Bin Picking application, you will also receive Photoneo-ABB USB Stick containing Client and State Server implementation written in RAPID language. This code needs to be installed on your robot controller to enable proper communication between Bin Picking application and ABB IRC5 system. Installation procedure and configuration tutorials are available in "Setting up" guides linked at the bottom of this page. Binpicking overview updated small.jpg

General principles:

As mentioned above, Photoneo Bin Picking Solution is compatible with industrial manipulators of various robotic vendors. Each implementation and installation procedure is different, however five high-level principles are common for all of them:

1. State Server + Bin Picking Client

Robot Interface for Photoneo BP Solution always consists of two tasks - State Server + Bin Picking Client. Both processes need to run in parallel on the target robot controller. State Server, reporting current joint and tool pose coordinates, usually runs in background, while BP Client responsible for the Request/Response transfers between Vision and robot controller is directly controlled by the robot Programmer/Operator using Photoneo Robotic API.

Detailed instructions how to configure specific robotic system and install necessary files are described in "Setting up tutorials" linked at the bottom of this page.

2. TCP/IP Based

TCP/IP is utilized for communication between Photoneo Vision Controller and specific robot controller. It is usually possible to configure additional industrial fieldbus for basic robot control (ON/OFF, robot program selection, safety purposes etc.), however the option of replacing TCP/IP communication by any other industrial fieldbus is currently not supported.

3. Full Operator Control

Photoneo BP Client does not take over the control of the robot! Photoneo BP Solution only feeds robot controller by trajectory waypoints and appropriate gripper commands and it is always the robot Programmer/Operator who decides when to perform bin picking actions by calling particular jobs/routines/programs provided by Photoneo Robotic API. Motion speed and implementation of gripper commands is also the responsibility of the robot Programmer/Operator.

In order to provide adequate feedback, Photoneo BP Client always enables robot Programmer/Operator to track current robot program execution directly on the pendant. Motion is never performed in background tasks and out of the Programmer/Operator reach. High caution is required especially during initial commissioning. Always make sure that motion speed is set adequately and be prepared to halt program execution immediately.

4. Easy to Integrate

Robot Interfaces for Photoneo BP solution were developed to be easily integrated into existing robotic applications written in standard robotic languages. From robot programming point of view, Photoneo BP Robot Interface is just a set of jobs/routines/programs that are available for the robot Programmer/Operator to be called when bin picking operation is about to be executed.

For example when a next object needs to be picked, operator calls a job/routine/program named requestTrajectory() or similar. Robot interface transmits this request to the Vision Controller, Vision Controller performs requested action (triggers scan & compute motion plan) and the result (set of trajectories and gripper commands) is transmitted back to the robot controller. Robot Programmer/Operator is notified by predefined register or flag that new motion data are available and it is up to him when he decides to perform the bin picking movement. This is realized by calling another job/routine/program usually named executeTrajectory() or similar.

See specific robot vendor tutorial for further information about Photoneo robotic API.

5. Trajectory Validation

Bin Picking procedure is mostly composed of four sub-trajectories (approach, grasp, deapproach and end) and two or three gripper commands. Each sub-trajectory consists of several waypoints (usually 10-100) defined in joint position representation, which robot is trying to follow during the movement. Photoneo BP Client leverages downloading approach (in contrast to streaming one) meaning that each trajectory is downloaded from the Vision Controller and verified by the robot controller before execution. No motion is executed until robot controller checks whether each received waypoint matches the waypoint originally sent by the Vision Controller.

Supported Robotic Systems & Prerequisites:

Robot interfaces for Photoneo BP system were developed using the latest available hardware. By default we are targeting 6-axis industrial manipulators of various scales but recently we have been also experimenting with collaborative robots such as KUKA IIWA or ABB YUMI which should be also supported in upcoming releases.

Following list summarizes currently supported systems and specific software options required for multitasking and user socket messaging functionality:

1. ABB - RobotWare OS > 5.13 + PC-Interface (616-6) + Multitasking Module (672-1) options

2. KUKA - KUKA System Software 8.2 and higher (KRC4) + EthernetKRL option

3. FANUC - System version 8.10 or higher + R632 - KAREL + R648 - User Socket Messaging options

4. STAUBLI - Staubli CS8 controller and higher + VAL3 version s7.7.2 or higher

5. YASKAWA - YRC1000 Controller v.1.34 and higher + MotoPlus Runtime option (DX100, DX200, FS100 controllers are currently not supported)

6. MITSUBISHI - CR750-D Controllers + Software version - H7 and higher

7. OMRON/ADEPT - Both s650 + s850 Adept Viper manipulators

8. UNIVERSAL ROBOT - System Version 1.8 and higher

Where to go next

Setting up tutorials provide detailed instructions how to configure specific robot controller and install required Photoneo Robot Interface sources:

1. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with ABB robots [In progress]

2. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with KUKA robots [ToDo]

3. Bin Picking Tutorial: Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with FANUC robots [In progress]

4. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with STAUBLI robots [ToDo]

5. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with YASKAWA robots [ToDo]

6. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with MISTUBISHI robots [ToDo]

7. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with OMRON/ADEPT robots [ToDo]

8. Setting up Photoneo BP Solution with UR robots [ToDo]