Robot Cell

[Roboter]

Hello,

I have constructed the Robot Cell in Mastercam X9 and would like to integrate this with my Robotmaster V6.4. That means everytime I program some process for a workpiece  in Mastercam and  open the Robotmaster Simulator i should be able to see the Robot Cell as well. At present i have the otion to see the Robot and workpiece in Robotmaster. I want to observe the Robot cell as well to check whether there is any collision with the walls or other devices fixed in the cell.

 

[Richard Thomas - Mastercam UK]

Have you got the "Robot Setup Utility" installed for Robotmaster 6.4?  If you haven't you have to get hold of the "Robotmaster_V6.4_ToolKitActivator" download.  You should be able to download it from the Robotmaster website (login required) or through your reseller.

 

Before running the utility you have to have the robot cell drawn up in Mastercam.  The cell is constructed relative to the robot origin, i.e. the robot origin should be at X0Y0Z0 and the rest of the cell drawn around that point.  All the main features of the cell (walls, floor, table, cabinets) should be named on different levels.  There are more steps involved but I'm afraid I haven't the time right now to go through it all.  I'll try to follow up later today.

[Roboter]

Hi Rich Thomas,

Thank you for your reply. I have asked my reseller for the file that you mentioned. Do you know if i Need to pay extra for this feature or is it normally inlcuded?.

[Roboter]

On ‎26‎.‎07‎.‎2017 at 2:43 PM, Rich Thomas 4D Engineering said:

Have you got the "Robot Setup Utility" installed for Robotmaster 6.4?  If you haven't you have to get hold of the "Robotmaster_V6.4_ToolKitActivator" download.  You should be able to download it from the Robotmaster website (login required) or through your reseller.

 

Before running the utility you have to have the robot cell drawn up in Mastercam.  The cell is constructed relative to the robot origin, i.e. the robot origin should be at X0Y0Z0 and the rest of the cell drawn around that point.  All the main features of the cell (walls, floor, table, cabinets) should be named on different levels.  There are more steps involved but I'm afraid I haven't the time right now to go through it all.  I'll try to follow up later today.

Hi Rich,

I just recieved the file from my reseller. Could you please share a link or a short description of the steps involved to set up my cell in robotmaster. I have already constructed the cell in mastercam around the Robot origin as you had suggested. I haven't really understood your point "All the main features  of the cell should be named on different levels".

 

[Richard Thomas - Mastercam UK]

Hi Roboter,

 

Please accept my apologies for not replying sooner - it's been a busy time the last week or so.  As far as I know the Robot Setup Utility is included at no extra cost with Robotmaster.  I'm afraid my laptop is at home today so either this evening or tomorrow I shall try and find some documentation or video instructions for the utility.

To reply to your query regarding levels; you have the potential to make different parts of the robot cell either visible or invisible when it comes to viewing the toolpath simulation. To do this you can - for example - place the floor geometry on Level 1, the walls on Level 2, the table on Level 3 etc, before you run the Robot setup utility.  I can't offer any more details right now as I'm actually using a customers' PC to write this message

[Richard Thomas - Mastercam UK]

Hi Roboter,

 

I've been looking through my work laptop and I'm sorry to say that I can't find a tutorial or even video to walk you through the Robot Setup Utility :-( I'm next in the office on Monday - I'll have a look there too.  In the meantime I can share a screenshot of a old cell from a University that I helped set up.  You can see that the main Mastercam 0,0 origin (you can see this by pressing F9 function key on you keyboard while using Mastercam) represents the origin/datum of the robot - your cell needs to be drawn around this point.  You do not need the actual model of the robot in the .MCAM part-file when you run the setup utility.  Also, you can see that in the Levels Manager, each main component is on a named level.  In the screenshot of the setup utility you can see there are two visibility options: Default and Housing.  The Housing option allows you to later make those sections transparent/invisible later.  

 

I wish I had more time to talk about the other important topics such as the External Axes and the Collision Groups sections.  But once I start it'll be quite a long topic to write down and I haven't got the time at the moment I'm afraid.  Speak to your reseller and see if they can get a tutorial from Robotmaster for you.  Hope this helps fill in some of the blanks and sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[Roboter]

10 hours ago, Rich Thomas 4D Engineering said:

Hi Roboter,

 

I've been looking through my work laptop and I'm sorry to say that I can't find a tutorial or even video to walk you through the Robot Setup Utility :-( I'm next in the office on Monday - I'll have a look there too.  In the meantime I can share a screenshot of a old cell from a University that I helped set up.  You can see that the main Mastercam 0,0 origin (you can see this by pressing F9 function key on you keyboard while using Mastercam) represents the origin/datum of the robot - your cell needs to be drawn around this point.  You do not need the actual model of the robot in the .MCAM part-file when you run the setup utility.  Also, you can see that in the Levels Manager, each main component is on a named level.  In the screenshot of the setup utility you can see there are two visibility options: Default and Housing.  The Housing option allows you to later make those sections transparent/invisible later.  

 

I wish I had more time to talk about the other important topics such as the External Axes and the Collision Groups sections.  But once I start it'll be quite a long topic to write down and I haven't got the time at the moment I'm afraid.  Speak to your reseller and see if they can get a tutorial from Robotmaster for you.  Hope this helps fill in some of the blanks and sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Hi Rich,

Thanks for your reply the screen shots helped me figure out how to use this function. Now I can use this function effectively.

[Richard Thomas - Mastercam UK]

Hi Roboter,

 

Well that is good news :-) I hope your reseller can come through with some training materials.