splicer480

Sorry just came back to the boards. The main thing that comes to mind is, you need to make sure you have an 8 axis card for your main CPU. I ran into the same problem adding a 7th axis turntable to a couple of s-430iw robots. An easy way to check this is to call Fanuc support and give them the robot F# and they can pull it up and let you know what your cpu card is. If you have to change the axis card make sure you save the robot image to a compact flash card.

I've never gone over 4 I/O cards on a 1500 yet. The AB website says the I/O can be up to (8) slots away but I dont know if the onboard supply will handle all of that. You may need a power supply added to your unit....

This sounds like a job for a Cognex vision system/part recognize.

Just to add to what Steve said... You have to really understand the "physical end" of the project too. What kind of sensors do what jobs and when they do it. Analog, voltage, frequency, current, high speed counting, etc... All of the communication devices and software. I've been working with AB plc's for about 15 years and still don't know what all the commands do....LOL

One thing to also consider with the "relay" output is mechanical switching. The contacts are rated for hundreds of thousands of on/off's but with certain applications that require fast switching or pulses you would be surprised at how short that time actually is. The triac or transistor (solid state device) is not a mechanical output so the physical switching limitations do not apply.

Nice job chakorules. Great job sequencing by the way.

I just got into the Halloween and Christmas lighting thing a couple of years ago too. I always wanted to do something with an old PLC until I found (LOR) Light-O-Rama. My 2008 display.. http://tovtube.wtov9.com/_McKnight-Family-...98557/6692.html

That is very cool indeed. I was at the robot show 3 years ago and saw the bartender motoman robot they had. It made about 4 different drinks and I believe it was a (2) arm 8 axis robot. With the economy how it is my boss said the trip was off for this year. Oh well, maybe next time...

The female judge had to pick her mouth up from the floor. Great voice, and I'm sure now an instant star. Great for her.

When you chose coordinates it also changes the way your axis move. For example: If you are in "joint" mode, and you press Z+. The Z axis will move straight up and Z- will move down. If you are in "World Coordinates" the same buttons will move the robot in a totally different way with most axis's moving all together. Also, like panic mode said. If you use "Tool" and the last 3 axis's. The tip of the tool stays at a certain point and the rest of the robot moves around for positioning. You can use any coordinate system you choose when programming. You don't have to stick with one only. You can move close to the part in "Joint" and then switch to "world" for some more precise positioning. Then "tool" will give you even more precise movement. I attached a pic of an RJ2 controller. It looks very similar to the RJ and RJ3. The newer RJ3 controllers are a more windows based controller. Hope this helps you some.

Hello there. I have a few Fanucs at my plant and I have never had to set the sytem variable motor type for programming purposes. The only thing I do is, if I'm doing a linear move I just choose "World Coordinates" and go from point A to B and name as linear. The robot sets the straight path itself. Either vertical or horizontal. I assume you are using some sort of pneumatic gripper for the tube transfers?

Steady on the controls....

Sorry, I have only set up one 1100 and its in operation at another plant. I set mine up (User Screen) as follows: 1. Enter Model number? 2. Set Table Height? Yes/No 3. Set Table Drop? Yes/no 4. "Unloader Ready" If the operator wants to change the model # just press "esc" and it goes back to the Model # screen. If he or she chooses "No" (for table height or drop) it just goes into "Run" mode.. (Unloader Ready) Preset values. I didn't need my app. to change my screen back automatically so I didn't try to simulate an esc or ok button press. I'll admit, setting up the screens was a new experience for me and I'm glad I had a unit (at that time) to bench test because I made A LOT of mistakes before I got it right. I'm sure someone in the forum has the answer for you. There are a lot of guys in here WAY smarter than me.

I think a good resource would be a product catalog. Something like the Allen-Bradley line. You could look up just about everything you just mentioned and it would give you the wiring schematics and breakdowns of each component. Plus sensor wise, it will tell you all about the different varieties of sensors. Capacitive and what it can sense; powders, liquids, plastics. Inductive proxes that sense metals etc. etc... Then you could do a search on goggle for industrial wiring and component schematics.

I don't have a preference either way but usually when I buy sensors I try to get them PnP/NpN combined (Dip switch or jumper). That way I don't have to stock (2) of the same sensors with the only difference being the Sink/Source.

Calex makes some nice models. I have 2 of their 6255 strain gage units. It converts 0-50mv to 100-10100Hz for use with 2 high speed counter inputs on a micrologix 1500 for a batch weighing application. Very dependable and it is very accurate also. www.calex.com

I don't have my micro 1100 in this plant but if I remember correctly when my current was @ 20ma my count was right around 32672 and when it was at 4ma my counts were something like 3000. Not the 00000 I thought it would have been. I used the SCP (scaling with parameters) to clean it up a little and get the counts a little tighter for my application. So, basically I used what the laser measurement sensor (Allen Bradley 45CPD) and analog card provided me with and went with that.

I have a 1762-1F4 4 channel analog input card with my 1100 but I use 4-20ma as my (Raw) signal current. If I'm following you correctly, you said you are feeding 10.50 Volts DC into the analog card and generating a count of around 32672? That part seems correct to me (maxing out) Or is this a variable power supply you are using (From 0-10V dc) and no matter what the voltage is you are not showing any (Counts) change? Make sure you have the 0Vdc common tied into "Say" input 0- of the analog card and your +Vdc (up to 10Vdc max) into input 0+. You should be able to show the "Raw" data just by putting in a MOV command in your logic and setting the source as I:1.0 assuming your analog card is in slot 1 of the rack and destination as "N7:0 for an integer register. So as an axample (0Vdc= 0 Counts.) (5Vdc =16336 Counts) (10.0Vdc= 32672 Counts) Hope some of this helps ya...

My wife's grandmother, who is 86 and has an OLD TV that looks like a casket with speakers asked me if she needed a "Converter Box" I said, "Yes, it comes in a box about 3 feet by 3 feet and its called "A New TV".....

I've run into a few plc's that I've had to change out to AB's. One was an Omron C-20 with 2 expansion racks that runs a seaming machine, changed to a SLC 501. The other was a Idec micro that I changed out to a micrologix 1000 for an automated powder coating paint line. I never tried Bob's method because I never knew it could be done until just now. Basically what I did with the OLD Omron was: I had the original ladder diagram (which is a BIG help) and I made a spreadsheet of all the relays, timers, counters, etc.. Then I mimicked them to AB relays, timer, counters, etc.. Example; Omron relay 116 becomes AB relay B3:0/0. Omron Timer T1 becomes AB timer T4:0. And so on. Then you have to look at the branching on the original ladder diagram and make sure you can do the same thing or close with the AB. The only thing that may get you frazzled, is if there is a lot of logic going on. Something like a lot of math or a bunch of Copys and Moves or messaging sort of stuff. You will really have to do your homework on BOTH plc's to figure out if each of the functions are the same or not. The only other option is to start FRESH with the AB plc and write your own program from scratch. You will just have to know the order of operations for the job and all safety circuitry involved so no one gets hurt.

I have a Keyspan usb to serial adapter that works with my micrologix family of PLC's. I also have a usb (1747-UIC )adapter that lets you hook up RS-232 or DH-485.

I programmed every step of every program from the TP itself. I don't use any math or any preset software (Fanuc wise) mainly because I've never had any to use . We buy our Fanucs second hand from a place called "The Robot Company" It is basically start at step 1, get the skid and slipsheet then stack all the boxes. Check that the finished skid rolled down the automated conveyor and JMP/Label back and do it all over again. Sure there are a lot of checks via the Allen Bradley PLC and a bunch of checks for if the boxes were placed before the robot moves to the next step but it was all put together by myself. The only thing we bought from the Robot Company was the robot and its power supply not any kind of software at all.

Yes, this is the best thing I like about the gripper. It will pick up just about anything and hold it very strong. It has about 400 small individual holes in the head and they all have their own check valves, that way if you pick up something small it only holds that certain section with vacuum, the other valves shut off and don't vacuum at all. I can pick up anything from 4ft long to something as small as a dime. I have a photoelectric sensor mounted on the entry conveyor that can watch for (6) 1 gallon boxes, (5) 2 1/2 gallon boxes, (4) 5 gallon boxes, or (2) long 2 1/2 ft boxes without different sensors or changing anything. Like I said it also picks up wooden skids and cardboard slipsheets too. The Joulin head is French made but their is a distributor in North Carolina where I picked mine up. It has a 20 HP 3 phase 460 Volt AC Vacuum motor and the control voltage for the suction solenoids is 24 Vdc. Here is a pick of the robot and head and the control panel I put together for it.

Hello, I have 5 robots at my plant, 3 Fanuc and 2 Panasonics. One of the Fanucs is a M-410iw also RJ3 controlled. We use it to pick up skids and slipsheets and stack all of our gas can products. It has a 4ft Joulin vacuum head that will pick up just about anything. The head is nice because we don't have to worry about a bunch of different tooling and tool changers, this head does it all. I have always programmed our robots via the teach pendant and have just used a laptop and KFLOPPY software for positioning and program backup. I've seen some palletizing software from fanuc at a robot show in Cincinnati a few years back but I have never used it yet. As far as reliability, you said it right. These Fanucs, and even the Panasonics, are very reliable robots.