Control.com - Nerds in Control

Hi Everybody,

We have some old model second hand 6 DOF robot manipulators. Teir servomotors and encoders still work but their controllers are very old. We hope that we can replace them with a new up to date robot controllers or even make a PC based robot controller to replace these old controllers. I'm familiar with some required robot calculation concepts such as forward kinematics and backward kinematics of robots.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,
Najafabadi

Our controllers are often used for such applications. The Clipper has analog out for motor control (or step and direction) and runs $1000 for 4 axes, and I think about $1600 for 8 axes. We can help with kinematics development if required.

If interested contact me offline at dgentry@deltatau.com

Davis Gentry delta tau data systems dgentry@deltatau.com

Dear Davis,
Thank you for your advice. I will contact you soon by Email. Any application note relate to or similar to my project will be very useful.

For the price of some of the new robots these days, I think you'll find your labor costs far outweigh the money you'll save on hardware.

--
Michael Batchelor
www.IndustrialInformatics.com

Industrial Informatics, Inc.
3281 Associate Dr.
N. Charleston, SC 29418

843-329-0342 x111 Voice
843-329-0343 FAX

Delta Tau Data Systems makes standalone and PC based multi-axis controllers and/or drives that can work with almost any motor. They also have inverse kinematic functions for robotics. They are a bit difficult to learn however. After the learning curve, they are logical to understand and work very well.

Bill

Google the EMC project now known by a different name An open source machine controller project.

Regards
cww

I agree with a few of the other posts, I would look at Delta Tau.

However, you know AB can now do 3 axes of kinematics. Hah. LOL. For about 10x cost and no support.

Motion controller from Galil maybe taken into account also.

Dear Friends,

First of all thank you for your advice.
Designing or using a ready made robot controller need checking both software and hardware capabilities. I search the web to check the availabilities of required software and find some ready to use software in the two links below:
http://www.orocos.org
http://www.orchestracontrol.com

Now the following questions are raised:

1. Has anybody used this software before? If yes please let me know about your experience. What are your recommendations (in selecting required hardware, in using software...)?

2. Is there any similar software available for the Windows XP platform? If yes, are they free?

Many thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards,
Najafabadi

I agree that buying new robots is generally cheaper than trying to put new controls on old ones. Granted, you might be able to cobble something together for ten grand worth of hardware, but the work involved will be enormous.

-James Ingraham
Sage Automation, Inc.

Dear Friends,
I'm still waiting your help for my previous questions.

Also I have another idea! Is it possible to use a 6 Axis ready made CNC controller to controll a 6 DOF robot? If yes, how can I should apply required interpolations?

Many thanks in advance for your helps.

"Is it possible to use a 6 Axis ready made CNC
controller to control a 6 DOF robot?"

Possible? Yes. Practical? No. They just aren't the same beast.

To answer your other questions:
No, I have never used Orocos/Orchestra, nor have I ever seen it in the "real world."

I am not aware of any free software for Windows XP for robot control. There are many PC based control options, including for 6 DOF robots, but all of them require at LEAST buying the motion control board, if not the complete system. B&R and Beckhoff are examples; yes they have XP based PCs than run robots, but you have to buy THEIR PCs. Many such systems also require that you're using THEIR servo motors.

-James Ingraham
Sage Automation, Inc.