A STUDY IN INDUSTRIAL ROBOT PROGRAMMING

YUSMARNITA BINTI YUSOP

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the
Degree of Master of Engineering (Electrical)
Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun HusseShhn
NOVEMBER 2004
ABSTRACT
This project is concerned with learning the technology and programming of
servo controlled industrial robots. A Mitsubishi RV-2AJ articulated robot was used in
this project. The project work is divided into two parts: In the first part of the project
the author familiarized herself with the operation and programming of the robot's
manipulator and controller hardware by carrying out some laboratory experiments. A
set of laboratory sheets were produced from this exercise. In the second part, the
author studied the mechanics of software control of the robot. A user-defined
trajectory planning routine based on the cubic spline fitting function has successfully
been developed in this project.
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
Multi-axis machines are used in a variety of applications: pick-and-place
operations, welding, machining, etc. Such machines can be divided into two units: the
physical mechanism composed of links and actuators, and the control system. The
number of actuators present in the mechanical system depends on the number of
independent machine axes, or degrees of freedom. For example, a typical articulated
six degree of freedom manipulator contains six rotating actuators. A five-axis high-
speed CNC machining centre would contain three linear actuators and two rotating
actuators.
A motion task given to the machine must ultimately be represented as a
reference signal, which is sent to the control system. The control system acts to make
the machine track the reference signal by activating the appropriate actuators. If the
reference signal changes too quickly, given the dynamic limitations of the machine,
the traclung of the reference signal will be poor, regardless of the control system
design. Computer algorithms are designed to calculate an appropriate reference signal
based on the desired task path and time-related limits (such as speed and acceleration).
This reference signal is the trajectory, and can be defied as a locus of points in
operational or joint space on which a time-law has been specified [I]. The generation
of an appropriate trajectory is the problem that is being investigated in this thesis.
The path along which the trajectory is defined can be point-to-point; namely,
the machine is required to move between the two points but is not given any fixed
intermediate path. This type of path is useful in manipulator pick-and-place
operations. A path can also be completely specified through use of geometric
functions. This type of path is commonly used in CNC machining applications or in
manipulator applications when obstacles are present, or when it is necessary to ensure
that the end effector follows a specific path. Herein it is assumed that the path
definition is provided, and the problem of path planning is not specifically addressed.
The control of the machine motion can be divided into two parts: motion
planning and motion tracking. Motion planning involves generating the path and its
time law, providing the controller's reference signal. Motion tracking, on the other
hand, is concerned with improving the tracking of the reference signal. Motion
planning is often done off-line, typically when the trajectory generation algorithms are
computationally intensive. However, it is often desirable to generate trajectories on-
line so that changes can easily be made to the machine's trajectory, increasing the
system's overall robustness and adaptability. For example, a manipulator may require
the ability to recompute its trajectory on-line in order to avoid an unexpected obstacle
that lies along a path on which it is currently moving 121. In an automated robot
workcell, a high level scheduler feeds a series of tasks to a manipulator in terms of
waypoints, approach points and stop points. The manipulator must execute the task by
generating paths and trajectories to these points and then following these trajectories
using a control law. Use of an on-line planner reduces manipulator setup time and
downtime, since the time required to plan the trajectories is shorter.
In industrial applications, it is common to use simple PID control laws, which
do not take into account the system's nonlinearities, to track a reference signal. To
compensate for tracking errors introduced by the system's nonlinearities, a more
complicated controller must be used [3,4,5]. Alternatively, it is possible to design a
trajectory that takes the system's nonlinearities into account and thus provides a
reference signal that can be more easily tracked by common industrial controllers
[6,71.
1.2 Industrial Motivation
Increased productivity is an important industrial consideration. When a multi-
axis machine limits the task speed, decreasing the machine's overall motion time will
increase productivity [6,3]. In addtion, improving the tracking accuracy of the
machine is always desirable since it results in more repeatable products or operations.
Traclung a purely time-optimal trajectory with a simple controller will saturate
the actuators resulting in poor tracking, vibrations in the machine and increased
machine wear [8,9,10,11,12,13]. Specialized controllers have been developed in
order to provide better tracking of time-optimal trajectories. However, it is unlikely
that they will be widely implemented in industry due to their complicated form. Purely
time optimal trajectories have been modified to take into account further limitations of
the actuators, for example jerk or torque rate limits, thereby avoiding controller
saturation and resulting in improved tracking accuracy [15,7,14]. Herein, trajectories
that are planned with jerk or torque rate limitations are termed smooth trajectories.
There exists a need for a smooth trajectory generation algorithm that can easily
be integrated into existing industrial systems, that is, be implemented using a typical
industrial controller. Such an algorithm should be applicable on-line, provide adequate
dynamic limitations, and allow the specification of the speeds at all the way-points.
1.3 Problem Definition
There are four types of robot operation control included in this system which is
joint interpolation, linear interpolation, circular interpolation and continuous path.
a) Joint interpolation
The robot moves with joint axis unit interpolation to the designated position. The
robot interpolates with a joint axis unit, so the end path is irrelevant.
Figure 1. 1 : Joint Interpolation
b) Linear interpolation
For the linear interpolation type of control, the end-effector is programmed to
move a sequence of discrete points in the workspace. In between points, no control
required over either speed of the individual axes or the path of the end-effector.
Fig.l.2 shows that the speeds is reduced and almost stop in fiont of the target
position. After moving to the target position, the speed for moving to the next
target position starts to be accelerated.
Figure: 1.2: Linear Interpolation
c) Circular interpolation
The robot moves along an arc designated with three points using three-dimensional
circular interpolation.
- Robot movement
-. Robat rnn*msnt
: Movsmnt positiw,
..~-"_._._--..
!4!
Figure: 1.3: Circular Interpolation
d) Continuous path
In the continuous operating mode, the speed is reduced in fi-ont of the target
position, but it does not stop completely. The speed for moving to the next target
position starts to be accelerated at that point. Therefore, it does not pass through
each target position, but it passes through the neighborhood position.
@&t ~ ~ u s . mo . v ~ me ~ t
Trf+k5$'i2 :(tirnsl
The abwc graph shown an exampla
Qependng on ltle moving dtstsnce andjar
Slart position of
speed, acceleratmn and decelerat~on may
rnwemmt
occur dunng interpolat~on ~onnrctlon
Figure: 1.4: Continuous Movement
The drawback of the existing operation control methods stated in previous
section are does not preserving continuity in the fist and second derivatives at the
interpolation point. The first derivative represents continuity in the velocity and the
second derivative represents continuity in the acceleration. Several trajectory planning
methods can be used in order to provide a method of generating smooth and
continuous path. In practical application, to plan a path for robot's end-effector to
follow, a number of points along the desired path are given by means of a teach-box or
a robot language command. The end-effector is then controlled to move through or
pass by these points smoothly and continuously.
How to control the endeffector to move through the desiredpath smoothly and
continuously?
To solve the stated problem, this project proposed an approach to constrain
smoothness and continuity based on cubic spline trajectory planning algorithm. Cubic
splines offer several advantages. First, it is the lowest degree polynomial function that
preserving continuity in the frst and second derivatives at the interpolation points.
Second, low-degree polynomials reduce the effort of computations and the possibility
of numerical instabilities. The feasibility of the method is illustrated by experimental
results with an articulated robot mtsubishi RV-2AJ) located at KUITTHO's
Automation Lab.
1.4 Research Objectives
This project is divided into two parts. For Part I, the objective of this work is to
famili&e with the Mitsubishi RV-2AJ robot operation and control. Instead of to
familiarize with the robot operation and control, a further objective is to produce a set
of laboratory sheets as a reference material to the students or lecturers in future work.
Furthermore is to learn MELFA robot programming languages, MOVEMASTER
Command and MELFA-BASIV IV Command.
For Part II, the objective is to write a user-defmed trajectory planning routine
based on cubic spline fitting function using MATLAB. At the end of this project, this
work aims to produce a cubic spline trajectory that will generate smooth and
continuous path.
CHAPTER I1
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
With a pressing need for increased productivity and the delivery of end
products of uniform quality, industry is turning more and more toward computer-
based automation. At the present time, most automated manufacturing tasks are
camed out by special-purpose machines designed to perform predetermined functions
in a manufacturing process. The inflexibility and generally high cost of these
machines, often called hard automation systems, have led to a broad-based interest in
the use of robots capable of performing a variety of manufacturing functions in a more
flexible working environment and at lower production costs.
The word robot originated from the Czech word robota, meaning work.
Webster's dictionary defines robot as "an automatic device that performs functions
ordinarily ascribed to human being." With this definition, washing machines may be
considered robots. A definition used by the Robot Institute of America gives a more
precise description of industrial robots: "A robot is a reprogrammable multi-functional
manipulator designed to move materials, parts, tools, or specialized devices, through
variable programmed motions for the performance of variety of tasks." In short, a
robot is reprogrammable general-purpose manipulator with external sensors that can
perform various assembly tasks. With this definition, a robot must possess
intelligence, which is normally due to computer algorithms associated with its control
and sensing systems.
An industrial robot is a general-purpose, computer controlled manipulator
consisting of several rigid links connected in series by revolute or prismatic joints.
One end of the chain is attached to a supporting base, while the other end is free and
equipped with a tool to manipulate objects or perform assembly task. The motion of
the joints results in relative motion of the links. Mechanically, a robot is composed of
an arm (or mainframe) and wrist subassembly plus a tool. It is designed to reach a
workpiece located within its work volume. The work volume is the sphere of influence
of a robot whose arm can deliver the wrist subassembly unit to any point within the
sphere. The arm subassembly generally can move with three degrees of fieedom. The
combination of the movements positions the wrist unit at the workpiece. The wrist
subassembly unit usually consists of three rotary motions. The combination of these
motions orients the tool according to the configuration of the object for ease in pickup.
These last three motions are often called pitch, yaw, and roll. Hence, for a six-jointed
robot, the arm subassembly is the positioning mechanism, while the wrist subassembly
is the orientation mechanism.
Many commercially available industrial robots are widely used in
manufacturing and assembly tasks, such as material handling, sport/arc welding, parts
assembly, paint spraying, loading and unloading numerically controlled machines,
space and undersea exploration, prosthetic arm research, and in handling hazardous
materials. These robots fall into one of the four basic motion-defining categories
(Fig.2.1):
Reclangular Cmrd5nale Robot
- -
-.----*--*
Cylindricat Coosdinale Robd
c-
--.*- --,--#
Speihl Goordinate Robot
Articulaked A m Robot
Figure 2.1 : Motion Defrning Categories
Most of today's industrial robots, though controlled by mini and
microcomputers, are basically simple positional machines. They execute a given task
by playing back prerecorded or preprograrnmed sequences of motions that have been
previously guided or taught by a user with a hand-held control-teach box. Moreover,
these robots are equipped with little or no external sensors for obtaining the
information vital to its working environment. As a result, robots are used mainly in
relative simple, repetitive tasks.
2.2 Historical Development
The word robot was introduced into the English language in 1921 by the
playwright Karel Capek in his satirical drama, R. UR. (Rossum's Universal Robots).
In this work, robots are machines that resemble people, but work tirelessly. Initially,
the robots were manufactured for profit to replace human workers but, toward the end,
the robots turned against their creators, annihilating the entire human race. Capek's
play is largely responsible for some of the views popularly held about robots to this
day, including the perception of robots as humanlike machines endowed with
intelligence and individual personalities. This image was reinforced by the 1926
German robot f11m Metropolis, by the walking robot Electro and his dog Sparko,
displayed in 1939 at the New York World's Fair, and more recently by the robot CP30
featured in the 1977 film Star Wars. Modern industrial robots certainly appear
primitive when compared with the expectations created by the communications media
during the past six decades.
Early work leading to today's industrial robots can be traced to the period
immediately following Worl War 11. Dunng the late 1940s research programs were
started at the Oak Ridge and Ar g 0 ~ e National Laboratories to develop remotely
controlled mechanical manipulators for handling radioactive materials. These systems
were of the "master-slave" type, designed to reproduce faithfully hand and arm
motions made by a human operator. The master manipulator was guided by the user
through a sequence of motions, while the slave manipulator duplicated the master unit
as closely as possible. Later, force feedback was added by mechanically coupling the
motion of the master and slave units so that the operator could feel the forces as they
developed between the slave manipulator and its environment. In the mid-1950s the
mechanical coupling was replaced by electric and hydraulic power in manipulators
such as General electric's Handyman and the Minotaur I built by General Mills.
8
The work on master-slave manipulators was quickly followed by more
sophisticated systems capable of autonomous, repetitive operations. In the mid-1950s
George C. Devol developed a device he called a "programmed articulated transfer
device," a manipulator whose operation could be programmed (and thus changed) and
which could follow a sequence of motion steps determined by the instructions in the
program. Further development of this concept by Devol and Joseph F. Engelberger led
to the first industrial robot, introduced by Unimation Inc. in 1959. The key to this
device was the use of a computer in conjunction with a manipulator to produce a
machine that could be "taught" to cany out a variety of tasks automatically. Unlike
hard automation machines, these robots could be reprogrammed and retooled at
relative low cost to perform other jobs as manufacturing requirements changed.
While programmed robots offered a novel and powerful manufacturing tool, it
became evident in the 1960s that the flexibility of these machines could be enhanced
significantly by the use of sensory feedback. Early in that decade, H.A.Ernst [I9621
reported the development of a computer-controlled mechanical hand with tactile
sensors. This device, called the MH-1, could "feel" blocks and use this information to
control the hand so that it stacked the blocks without operator assistance. This work is
one of the first examples of a robot capable of adaptive behavior in a reasonably
unstructured environment. The manipulative system consisted of an ANL Model-8
manipulator with 6 degrees of fieedom controlled by a TX-0 computer through an
interfacing device. This research program later evolved as part of project MAC, and a
I
television camera was added to the manipulator to begin machine perception research.
During the same period, Tomovic and Boni [I9621 developed a prototype hand
equipped with a pressure sensor which sensed the object and supplied an input
feedback signal to a motor to initiate one of two grasp patterns. Once the hand was in
contact with the object, information proportional to object size and weight was sent to
a computer by these pressure sensitive elements. In 1963, the American Machine and
Foundry Company (AMF) introduced the VERSATRAN commercial robot. Starting
in the same year, various arm designs for manipulators were developed, such as the
Roehampton arm and the Edinburgh arm.
In the late 1960s, McCarthy [I9681 and his colleagues at the Stanford Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory reported development of a computer with hands, eyes, and
ears (i.e., manipulators, TV cameras, and microphones). They demonstrated a system
that recognized spoken messages "saw" blocks scattered on a table, and manipulated
them in accordance with instructions. During this period, Pieper [I9681 studied the
kinematics problem of computer-controlled manipulator using bang-bang (near
minimum time) control.
Mean while, other countries (Japan in particular) began to see the potential of
industrial robots. As early as 1968, the Japanese company Kawasaki Heavy Industries
negotiated a license with Unimation for its robots. One of the more unusual
developments in robots occurred in 1969, when an experimental wallung truck was
developed by the General Electric Company for the U.S Army. In the same year, the
Boston arm was developed, and in the following year the Stanford arm was developed,
which was equipped with a camera and computer controller. Some of the most serious
work in robotics began as these arms were used as robot manipulators. One
experiment with the Stanford arm consisted of automatically stacking blocks
according to various strategies. This way very sophisticated work for an automated
robot at that time. In 1974, Cincinnati Milacron introduced its first computer-
controlled industrial robot. Called "The Tomorrow Tool," or f, it could lift over 100
lb as track moving objects on an assembly line.
During the 1970s a great deal of research work focused on the use of external
sensors to facilitate manipulative operations. At Stanford, Bolles and Paul [1973],
using both visual and force feedback, demonstrated a computer-controlled Stanford
arm connected to a PDP-10 computer for assembling automotive water pumps. At
about the same time, Will and Grossman [I9751 at IBM developed a computer-
controlled manipulator with touch and force sensors to perform mechanical assembly
of a 20-part typewriter. Inoue [I 9741 at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
worked on the artificial intelligence aspects of force feedback. A landfall navigation
search techniques was used to perform initial positioning in a precise assembly task.
At the Draper Laboratory Nevins et al. [I9741 investigated sensing techniques based
on compliance. This work developed into the instrumentation of a passive compliance
device called remote center compliance (RCC) which was attached to the mounting
plate of the last joint of the manipulator for close parts-mating assembly. Bejczy
[1974], at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, implemented a computer-based torque
control technique on his extended Stanford arm for space exploration projects. Since
then, various control methods have been proposed for servoing mechanical
manipulators.
2.3 Robot Programming
One major obstacle in using manipulators as general-purpose assembly
machines is the lack of suitable and efficient communication between the user and the
robotic system so that the user can direct the manipulator to accomplish a given task.
There are several ways to communicate with a robot, and the three major approaches
to achieve it are discrete word recognition, teach and playback, and high-level
programming languages.
Current state-of-the-art speech recognition is quite primitive and generally
speaker-dependent. It can recognize a set of discrete words from a limited vocabulary
and usually requires the user to pause between words. Although it is now possible to
recognize words in real time due to faster computer components and efficient
processing algorithms, the usefulness of discrete word recognition to describe a task is
limited. Moreover, it requires a large memory space to store speech data, and it usually
requires a training period to build up speech templates for recognition.
Teach and playback, also known as guiding, is the most commonly used
method in present-day industrial robots. The method involves teaching the robot by
leading it through the motions the user wishes the robot to perform. Teach and
playback is typically accomplished by the following steps:
1 . Leading the robot in slow motion using manual control through the
entire assembly task and recording the joint angles of the robot at
appropriate locations in order to replay the motion
2. Editing and playing back the taught motion
3. If the taught motion is correct, then the robot is run at an appropriate
speed in a repetitive mode.
Leading the robot in slow motion usually can be achieved in several ways,
using a joystick, a set of pushbuttons (one for each joint), or a master-slave
manipulator system. Presently, the most commonly used system is a manual box with
pushbuttons. With this method, the user moves the robot manually through the space,
and presses a button to record any desired angular position of the manipulator. The
manipulator has traversed the set-points of the trajectory from the set of angular
positions that was recorded. These position set-points are then interpolated by
numerical methods, and the robot is "played back" along the smoothed trajectory. In
the edit-playback mode, the user can edit the recorded angular positions and make sure
that the robot will run repeatedly according to the edited and smoothed trajectory. If
the task is changed, then the above three steps are repeated. The advantages of this
method are that it requires only a relatively small memory space to record angular
positions and it is simple to learn. The main disadvantage is that it is difficult to utilize
this method for integrating sensory feedback information into the control system.
High-level programming languages provide a more general approach to
solving the human-robot communication problem. In the past decade, robots have
been successfully used in such areas as arc welding and spray painting using guiding
(Engelberger [1980]). These tasks require no interaction between the robot and the
environment and can be easily programmed by guiding. However, the use of robots to
perform assembly tasks requires high-level programming techniques because robot
assembly usually relies on sensory feedback, and this type of unstructured interaction
can only be handled by conditionally programmed methods.
Robot programming is substantially different fiom traditional programming.
We can identify several considerations which must be handled by any robot
programming method: The objects to be manipulated by a robot are three-dimensional
objects which have a variety of physical properties; robots operate in a spatially
complex environment; the description and representation of three-dimensional objects
in a computer are imprecise; and sensory information has to be monitored,
manipulated, and properly utilized. Current approaches to programming can be
classified into two major categories: robot-oriented programming and object-oriented,
or task-level programming.
In robot-oriented programming, an assembly task is explicitly described as a
sequence of robot motions. The robot is guided and controlled by the program
throughout the entire task with each statement of the program roughly corresponding
to one action of the robot. On the other hand, task-level programming describes the
assembly task as a sequence of positional goals of the objects rather than the motion of
the robot needed to achieve these goals, and hence no explicit robot motion is
specified.
2.4 Cubic Spline
Many researchers have proposed the use of polynomial functions in terms of
time for real time Cartesian space trajectory generation. The simplest method in this
approach has been proposed by Luh [17], Paul [IS] and Brock [8]. In this method, two
end points are joined by a combination of linear segment with constant speed and the
transition with parabolic, fourth order polynomials or with the combination of constant
acceleration and squared sinus functions for smooth portion above trajectory. The
major two disadvantages in this method are:
1 . The trajectory does not pass through the via points and deviates fiom them by
an unknown amount.
2. Due to the fixed path geometry, we cannot reproduce circles, skew curves or
any curve with any accuracy other than a piece-wise straight line.
Kant [I91 has proposed the formation of first geometrically defined trajectory
and then to define trajectory and then to defme the velocity law for this trajectory. The
major advantage of this method is that the manipulator can traverse the same path with
different velocities. Wu [20] has used the same approach by defining the orientation of
end effector in Frenet axes whereas Froissart [4] uses Quartenion representation to
reduce the burden of computation. Montillet [21] has shown the difficulties in
calculating the tangents at the end points in this last method. Haddad [5] has also
presented the same approach using B-Spline for geometrically constrained path. These
methods have heavy computation due to the numerical methods involved. Shafaat
Ahmed Bazaz [3] has proposed a new concept of trajectory planning method so that
the trajectory generation may be possible on-line and interactively using 3-Cubic
spline method. In this paper, Shafaat Ahrned Bazaz has solved the same problem of
generating first the geometrically defined path and then defining a velocity law for it
in such a manner that the whole planning may be done on-line and interactively.
2.5 MATLAB Programming
In this research, we intend to write user-defied function based on cubic spline
fitting using MATLAB. This is because, MATLAB@ is a high-performance language
for technical computing. It integrates computation, visualization, and programming in
an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar
mathematical notation. Typical uses include:
Math and computation
Algorithm development
Data acquisition
Modeling, simulation, and prototyping
* Data analysis, exploration, and visualization
Scientific and engineering graphics
Application development, including graphical user interface building
MATLAB is an interactive system whose basic data element is an array that
does not require dimensioning. This allows us to solve many technical computing
problems, especially those with matrix and vector formulations, in a fraction of the
time it would take to write a program in a scalar noninteractive language such as C or
Fortran. The name MATLAB stands for matrix laboratory. MATLAB was originally
written to provide easy access to matrix software developed by the LINPACK and
EISPACK projects. Today, MATLAB engines incorporate the LAPACK and BLAS
libraries, embedding the state of the art in software for matrix computation. MATLAB
has evolved over a period of years with input from many users. In university
environments, it is the standard instructional tool for introductory and advanced
courses in mathematics, engineering, and science. In industry, MATLAB is the tool of
choice for high-productivity research, development, and analysis. MATLAB features a
family of add-on application-specific solutions called toolboxes. Very important to
most users of MATLAB, toolboxes allow you to learn and apply specialized
technology. Toolboxes are comprehensive collections of MATLAB functions (M-
files) that extend the MATLAB environment to solve particular classes of problems.
Areas in which toolboxes are available include signal processing, control systems,
neural networks, fuzzy logic, wavelets, simulation, and many others.
MATLAB0 provides interfaces to external routines written in other
programming languages, data that needs to be shared with external routines, clients or
servers communicating via Component Object Model (COM) or Dynamic Data
Exchange (DDE), and peripheral devices that communicate directly with MATLAB.
Much of this interf'ace capability was formerly referred to under the title of the
MATLAB Application Program Interf'ace, or API.
MATLAB serial port interface provides direct access to peripheral devices
such as modems, printers, and scientific instruments that you connect to your
computer's serial port. This interface is established through a serial port object. The
serial port object supports functions and properties that allow you to Configure serial
port communications Use serial port control pins Write and read data Use events and
callbacks Record information to disk If you want to communicate with PC-compatible
data acquisition hardware such as multifunction I/O boards, you need the Data
Acquisition Toolbox. If you want to communicate with GPIB- or VISA-compatible
instruments, you need the Instrument Control Toolbox. Note that this toolbox also
includes additional serial I/0 utility functions that facilitate object creation and
configuration, instrument communication, and so on.
CHAPTER I11
METHODOLOGY
Referring to Fig. 3.1 and Fig. 3.2, there were two stages involved in this
research which equivalent to the research scope. The figure was intended to feature the
entire research process. Initially, the first stage was highlighting the preparation and
familiarization level. The familiarization stages were carried out by several practical
experiments with a help by Mitsubishi robot instruction manual. Basically, the
experiment is divided into four categories:
1) Familiarization with the robot controller(CR1-571)
2) Familiarization with the teach pendant(R28TB)
3) Familiarization with the personal computer support software (MELFA)
4) Familiarization with the robot programming language.
Instead of to familiarize with the robot operation control, a set of laboratory
sheets were produced from this exercise. Since the instruction manual given by the
suppliers or manufacturer does not specialize to the Mitsubishi RV-2AJ robot, lab
sheets will serve as a reference material to the students or lecturers so that there will
be no problem in future work.
The second stage is regarding to MATLAB programming. At this stage, a user-
defined trajectory planning routine based on the cubic spline fitting function was
developed. MATLAB@ is a high-performance language for technical computing. It
integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment
where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation.
START
(7
Controller
Familiarization with
Teaching Pendant
Familiarization with MELFA PC TOOL
Personal Computer Support Software
(OFF-LINE PROGRAMMING)
Familiarization with robot
programming language:
1 .MELFA BASIC-IV
Figure 3.1 : PART I - Familiarization
START
5 '
MATLAB
Programming
(Cubic Spline)
b
v
7
Simulation the
program
Alter the program
accordingly
4
Position of robot end
effector
Figure 3.2: PART 11- MATLAB Programming
CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDING & DISCUSSION PART I
This chapter explains the functions and operation methods of the controller CR1-571,
teach pendant (R28TB), programming language, and the functions and specification of
the Personal Computer Support Software (MELFA PC TOOL).
4.1 Components of Robot System
Figure 4.1 below show the component of robot system that was used in this
research. An articulated Mitsubishi RV-2AJ five axis robot contains five degree of
freedom manipulator or five rotating actuator. The system of the robot has been
designed to allow control of the robot from the manual control pendant called teaching
box (R28TB). Teaching box is used to control the various joint motors, and to power
drive the robot arm and wrist through a series of point in space. Each point is stored in
memory for playback during the work cycle. The CR1-571 controller can support 1
standard RS-232C, 2 optional expansion serial cards (2 port per card), totaling 5 ports.
Standard RS-232C port normally connects to a PC for robot program transferring and
debugging done with the PC support software.
&F---
Robot
c ,
. t RV-24J (5-)
E*_ -
CRl -S
Contml
t' . 2
4A-HPB1 E
Standard Device Machine cable " "
C0mposKIon S e
Electric. hand set
4A-H MLS1
Teaching box
R28TB Personal computer
{supplied by customer)
Figure 4.1 : Components Of Robot System
Optional cards can link with vision sensor and external devices for data
communication as shown in Fig.4.2. Communication is performed using the
communication instructions (OPEN, CLOSE, PRINT, INPUT, etc.) in the robot
program. This is referred to as data link. The controller cannot be controlled fiom
external devices such as a PC (i.e., automatic execution or status monitoring).