Keywords
Citation
(2001), "One card robotic controller", Assembly Automation, Vol. 21 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2001.03321aaf.005
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited
One card robotic controller
One card robotic controller
Keywords: Robotics, Controller
EuroServo, a three-axis servo module from Baldor Optimized Control in Fort Smith, Arkansas, is providing Automated Assemblies Inc., in Clinton, Massachusetts, with a motion controller for its new low cost robot, Optimum.
The robot is designed to remove plastic parts after they have been created with an injection moulding process so that they can be moved to an unload station and stacked or palletised. The controller replaces a programmable logic controller (PLC) that was used on earlier entry level robots.
A key goal for Automated Assemblies was to produce a low cost robot with a teach and replay capability, which enables users to programme new parts removal tasks in minutes. EuroServo's built in programming language, MINT (for motion intelligence), makes this possible. MINT is a language similar to Basic with motion-embedded commands, such as accelerate, decelerate, and contour. It can also store and replay movement sequences in an array.
Furthermore, because EuroServo's onboard MINT interpreter enables instant testing of motion programmes product optimisation can be performed quickly. According to the robot's designers, programming the same functions using a PLC would take far longer. Automated Assemblies developed the motion software for the robot in less than ten weeks.
The company also used two of Baldor's add-on-modules to provide a complete off the shelf control system. A 24-channel digital module handles all the robot's gripper status, end stop, safety interlock, and other I/O signals. The company's low cost operator panel, with its numeric key pad, four line display, and programmable keys, provides an intrinsically simple to use man-machine interface for the kind of factory environment in which Optimum will be installed. It is capable of unload cycles upward of seven or eight seconds.