Teach Pendant Operation Guide

Overview

The softTP is a teach pendant (TP) designed for use with softMC 3 and softMC 7 motion controllers and various types of robots, such as SCARA, PUMA and Delta. The softTP allows operators to move a robot, a single axis, or an axis group by means of jog keys. It also lets users create and run complete robot programs written in MC-Basic.

The softTP touch screen interface enables quick and easy application development. The softTP software package also includes a full-featured emulator running on Windows/Linux.

Access Permission Levels

The softTP has four different user levels.

• Viewer
• Operator
• Programmer
• Administrator (not shown)

Each softTP user must login with a password for a specific permission level. The Administrator level can set new passwords for all other user levels.

The following table indicates the functions available to each user level.

	Viewer	Operator	Programmer
View main robot data.	x	x	x
Switch between TP screens.	x	x	x
View the status of digital IOs and error history.	x	x	x
View data (variables).	x	x	x
View programs.	x	x	x
Start/stop certain processes (e.g., jog)		x	x
Start/stop certain programs.		x	x
Modify data (variables).		x	x
Load, run and debug programs.		x	x
Acknowledge errors.		x	x
Enable the robot.		x	x
Create and edit user programs (UPG/ULB).			x
Create and edit (teach) program variables.			x

softTP Switches

Deadman Switch

The deadman switch is located on the back of the softTP. The switch has three positions: released, partially pressed, and fully pressed.

Motion and jogging commands can be issued from the softTP only when the teach pendent is in Manual mode, and the deadman switch is in the intermediate, partially-pressed position.

If the deadman switch is released, or fully pressed, while axes are in motion, the motion stops immediately.

The deadman can switched ON (partially pressed position) only from fully released position, not from fully pressed position.

Position	State	Description
	Deadman Off	Deadman switch is not pressed or is pressed too lightly. Not pressed. Switch is off. softTP cannot issue motion commands.
	Deadman On	Deadman switch is pressed with normal pressure. Pressed partially. Switch is on. softTP can issue motion commands.
	Deadman Off	If deadman switch is pressed too hard. Fully pressed. Switch is off. softTP cannot issue motion commands.

When using TP Emulator, the deadman switch status is represented by the on‑off vertical switch on the left side of the screen.

Emergency Stop

Note: The Emergency Stop switch must be connected to the STO circuit.

Pressing the Emergency switch automatically powers off the motors, stops motion and and disables the axes.

Mode Selector Switch

The Mode Selector switch on the front of softTP has three positions: Manual, Automatic and External.

If the mode setting is switched from Automatic to Manual or External while a user program is running, program execution and the current motion stop immediately .

Position	Description
Manual	Left position. Manual mode is used for jogging the axes. When in Manual mode, the robot velocity is reduced and the user cannot run or edit programs.
Automatic	Middle position. Automatic mode is used for editing/running programs. When in Automatic mode, the axes cannot be jogged.
External	Right position. When in External mode, the softTP does not control the robot.

When using TP Emulator, the mode switch status is represented by the horizontal switch on the top left of the screen.

Interface Elements

Toolbar

	Toolbar	Description
	Logout	Exits the TP interface.
	TP Operation Mode	Indicates the teach pendant’s current operation control mode, as defined by the mode selector switch. On the TP, the positions are indicated by icons. In the TP screen, the three positions are marked M, A and E.
	Message box	Message field for system notifications. Locatedin the center of the screen.
	Axes in Motion	Indicates state of the axes: Red: Axes are stopped. Green (spinning): One or more axes in motion.
	Primary TP	Indicates that the teach pendant in use is the primary TP. If another TP is connected, this indicator will be off. (Not currently implemented)
	Collapse/Expand	Hides/shows the menu bar, to provide additional screen space.
	Enable | Disable	Enables and disables all axes, and indicates the state of the axes. Red: All axes disabled. Green: All axes enabled.

Menu Bar

The menu bar provides access to the softTP screens.

Screen	Description
Jog	Used to select the type of robot, and jog the robot/axes in the user-defined frame. Displays current robot position in Cartesian and joint coordinates. Used to teach/set new points, and move(s) to a predefined point. Provides tool-calibration, and align functionality.
Program	Used to create, edit, run and debug MC‑Basic programs.
Data	Used to add and edit variables attached to the selected domain.
IO	Used to monitor and switch system digital inputs and outputs.
Diagnostics	Displays motion bus settings and status of configured axes and devices.
Errors	Displays the log of faults in the softMC motion controller. Also used to acknowledge and clear faults.
Settings	Displays system software components and versions.

Jog Keys

When Frame is set to Joint, keys are labeled according to axes: J1, J2, J3, and so on.

When Frame is set to Base, Tool or World, keys are labeled according to Cartesian coordinates: X, X, Z, Yaw, Pitch, Roll.

Domains

Domains serve to separate data from programs, thereby allowing manipulation of program data (variables) without affecting program code.

Every program is associated with a domain. In MC-Basic, domains are implemented by a namespace feature of the MC-Basic language. (Refer to: http://softmc.servotronix.com/wiki/Namespace).

All variables of a given domain are automatically saved to a separate file on the softMC disk after they are created or updated.

The softTP provides three system domains for certain data, which do not have associated program files: TP, Base and Tool.

Whenever a project is created from the softTP, an associated domain with the same name as the project is generated, and the softTP automatically switches to this domain.

TP Domain

TP variables are not assigned to a particular project or program.

They can be used freely as auxiliary variables for debugging and other functions.

Base Domain

Base variables are not assigned to any program and are used to store the base property values used by the selected robot.

It is recommended that variables in this domain use the naming format BASE1, BASE2, and so on.

Tool Domain

Tool variables are not assigned to any program and are used to store the tool property values used by the selected robot.

It is recommended that variables in this domain use the naming format TOOL1, TOOL2, and so on.

Jog Screen

The Jog screen is the main screen for working with the robot.

• It displays the current robot joint and Cartesian coordinates.
• It enables user to teach/set new points, move(s) to a predefined point.
• It provides tool calibration and align functionality.

Frames

softTP supports five jog frames: Joint, Base, Tool, World XYZ,and World ZYZ.

• Joint frame is used for jogging the individual robot axes: J1 … J6.
• Base, Tool and World frames represent Cartesian frames. When one of these frames is selected, jogging is in XYZ coordinates and in the corresponding orientation axes:
  • Base and Tool frames allow jogging of X, Y, Z, Yaw, Pitch and Roll.

Note that the default Euler-Angle representation of Yaw-Pitch-Roll is a ZYZ rotation sequence only.

• World frame has two modes: ZYZ and XYZ.

ZYZ is the default mode; it has standard orientation angles as Yaw-Pitch-Roll of a ZYZ rotation sequence.

XYZ is an alternative mode; it has non-standard orientation angles as Rx-Ry-Rz of an XYZ rotation sequence.

In MC-Basic, Base, Tool and World frames are considered location data types.

A Cartesian robot frame (for PUMA robot) is a 6-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system in which the robot tool tip position and orientation are defined.

For a PUMA robot both Base and Rtool frames are in the form X-Y-Z-Yaw-Pitch-Roll.

The Frame option in the Jog screen allows you to select a different frame for jogging in. You can set different frame parameters (values) in various ways; for example:

• By using Teach option to teach them directly – this is commonly done for Base.
• By using Tool Calibration options – this is commonly done for Tool.

Teaching Points

Positions are taught in the Jog screen, and defined in either Joint or Cartesian coordinates.

Before teaching a point, you must first create a Location or a Joints position in the Data screen. Be sure the position is attached to the appropriate Domain.

In the Jog screen, make sure Domain and Frame are set accordingly.

Use the Teach button to set position coordinates automatically, or enter position values manually.

Setting	Description
Robot	The specific type of robot or axis for movement or position teaching.
Frame	Cartesian (Tool, Base and World): Linear movement along X, Y and Z directions, angular motion around a static XYZ coordinate.
Tool	Used for selecting the actual tool: Null Tool: No tool attached Tool1, Tool2, Tool3, Tool4: Uses predefined values
Base	Used for selecting the actual base: Null Base – No base selected Base1, Base2, Base3, Base4: Uses predefined values
Domain	Used for selecting the domain: The system domain: TP, Base, Tool The domain of a loaded project.
Speed	Slider to increase/decrease the jogging speed, as a percentage of the maximum speed.
X Y Z Yaw (Rx) Pitch (Ry) Roll (Rz)	Displays the Cartesian coordinates of the robot even when operating in Joint mode.
Teach	Used to define the values (Joint or Cartesian) to be taught. Enter position values manually, or press Teach.
Move	Generates joint interpolated motion to the specified target
Moves	Generates Cartesian interpolated motion (straight line) to the specified target.
Tool Align	Aligns the Tool X, Y or Z direction with the nearest World axis, while the tool tip remains in position
Tool Calibrate	Two methods for calibrating the tool: Multi-point calibration: Move the robot to a number of points. After recording 4 points, click Calibrate. The new computed tool is automatically assigned after the procedure. Single point calibration: Go to point once without tool and once with tool. The new computed tool is automatically assigned after the procedure.

Program Screen

The Program screen is used for creating, editing, running and debugging MC‑Basic programs.

The file extensions *.UPG  user programs and *.ULB for user libraries are used to distinguish user programs from general system programs and settings.

• Administrator level users can access and manipulate both global (*.PRG/*.LIB) and user (*.UPG/*.ULB) programs and libraries.

• Programmer level users can create/edit/run/debug user programs only (*.UPG) and user libraries only (*.ULB).

• Operator level users can run/debug user programs only (*.UPG) and user libraries only (*.ULB).

• Viewer level users have no access rights to user programs (*.UPG) and user libraries (*.ULB).

A project comprises set of files with the same names but different extensions (e.g. TASK.UPG, TASK.ULB, TASK.DEF and TASK.VAR). The files are generated when a Programmer level user creates a project.

Only files with the extension UPG and ULB are visible to non-Admin users:

• name.UPG: The main user task.
• name.ULB: The library containing the functions and subroutines used in the main user task.

Project Mode

Item	Description
Open Project	Opens an existing project.
New Project	Opens a new project. When prompted for a name, enter up to 8 characters. Valid characters are a-z, A-Z, 0-9, _ (underscore), - (hyphen). When a new project is created, a user program, a user library, and a domain of the same name are also created.
Load	Loads a program and associated library from the softMC flash memory to the softMC RAM so that the program can be executed.
Unload	Unloads a program/library from the softMC RAM so that they can be edited.
Kill	Aborts execution of a running program.
Idle	Stops the program at the end of the line currently being executed. Robot motion is also stopped.
Run	Starts execution or continues execution (if idle) of the program and motion.
Jump to Line	Jump to a line in current program.
Step Over	Skip over the subroutine.
Step Into	Step into the subroutine.
Step Out	Exit the subroutine.

Edit Mode

Provides the code syntax for commonly used instructions, including prompts for the data required for completing the code line/s.

Item	Description
Program	Instructions for defining subroutines and functions. Sub ... End Sub Function Program ... End Program Call
Flow Commands	Instructions used to change the flow of a program based on specific conditions. If ... Then ... Else ... End If While ... End While For ... Next Select Case … End Select Sleep
Interpolation	Move MoveS Circle (P2P) Circle (Angle) DoPass
Motion Commands	Stop WaitForMotion Delay Enable
I/O	Inputs Outputs

Project Manager

Item	Description
[project list]
Delete	Deletes selected project.
Save As	Saves a copy of current project using a new name.
Rename	Renames the current project.

Data Screen

The Data screen is used for creating and editing variables in the domain that is currently selected.

Variables can be robot positions or any other default data type that is supported in MC‑Basic, such as long, double and string.

Select the domain, and the type of variable, then click the + button to create a variable.

A dialog box opens according to type of variable.

Enter values.

Setting	Description
Locations	World/Cartesian positions.
Joints	Joint positions.
Longs	Numeric variable: 32-bit integer.
Doubles	Numeric variable: 64-bit floating point.
Strings	ASCII or UTF-8 string. Length is unlimited.
Domain	Either a system domain (TP, Base, Tool) or a user-defined project domain.

I/O Screen

Allows monitoring of the system digital inputs and outputs, and toggling of outputs.

IO names are defined in DAT files (TPIN.DAT and TPOUT.DAT).

This screen is updated in realtime.

Diagnostics Screen

Two views. Devices and Master.

Shows status and properties of the devices and the motion bus in the system.

 

Errors Screen

When errors occur, an icon is displayed in the menu bar, and indicates the total number of errors.

• Clear List – removes all errors from the list
• Clear Drive Fault – removes all errors from the softMC

Different icon colors indicate the severity of the error or the type of message.

• Yellow: Note
• Blue:  Info
• Red: Error

Settings Screen

Shows version information of software components.

Additional information is visible to Administrators.

Setting	Description
TP Library Version	Displays the version of the currently loaded set of TP library files.
softTP Client Version	Displays the version of the softTP user interface software.
Java Version	Displays the version of the Java software in use.