KUKA
This page is a guide to help users understand the requirements of setting up a KUKA robotic welding system for use with Verbotics Weld. Verbotics also offer consulting and training services to assist with the calibration and setup of a welding system - please contact us for pricing.
TCP Calibration
The real world TCP should be calibrated using the KUKA calibration tool. After calibration, it is then suggested that the rotational values are overwritten with theoretical values (that can be supplied by Verbotics) as rotational values are difficult to calibrate using this method.
Care should be taken to ensure that the the Z axis of the tool is pointing outwards along the wire direction.
The TCP calibration should use the expected stickout specified in the workcell model file supplied by Verbotics for the cell and the wirecut routine should be written to cut the wire to this length prior to touch sensing.
Program Generation
Verbotics will two KRL programs (both .src and .dat) files to be loaded on to the robot controller. These contain functions which are used by generated Verbotics Weld programs.
VB_USER- contains code that you will edit to implement custom functionality.VB_SYS- contains Verbotics calculation routines that are used between multiple programs.
You will need to populate the code within the following functions in the VB_USER program:
VB_CLEAN_TORCHVB_CUT_WIRE
You can also edit the following functions if required for custom functionality. This is commonly used to interface with safety equipment for example.
VB_BEFORE_RUNandVB_AFTER_RUNVB_BEFORE_WELDandVB_AFTER_WELDVB_BEFORE_SENSEandVB_AFTER_SENSE
ArcTech
Verbotics Weld currently supports ArcTech Basic for interfacing with your welding power source. Please contact us if you would like to explore support for other packages such as ArcTech Advanced.