Rhino Robotics Ltd. Mark IV Controller Command Set

RHINO ROBOTICS LTD.
General Description of the
Mark IV Controller
and its
Hand Held Teach Pendant

The Rhino Mark IV controller and teach pendant are fully compatible with the XR series (XR-3, XR-4) and SCARA robots and can be used as enhanced replacements for the Mark III controller and teach pendant.

The controller supports speed control on all the motor ports and also allows PWM signals to be sent to the auxiliary ports.

The input/output (I/O) capability of the controller has been enhanced to allow the development of a sophisticated workcell and to allow the robot to work effectively in a comprehensive computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM/FMS) environment. The 48 line external I/O module is also fully supported.

There are over 100 kernel commands for the Mark IV controller. The RoboTalk language has been enhanced to a large degree to allow greater control of the robot and its surroundings.

The teach pendant has its own 8 bit microprocessor and has a fully programmable alphanumeric display of two lines of 16 characters each. The design of the teach pendant reflects the latest standards that have been suggested for the industry. The Rhino Mark IV controller and teach pendant represent a new level of sophistication in the openness, control and performance of educational robotic controllers.

The Mark IV controller and teach pendant use two 8 bit microprocessors and one 16 bit microprocessor between them to control the operation of the robot, the teach pendant and the controller I/O. One 8 bit processor handles just the tracking of the eight encoders and the PWM signals. The other handles the operation of the teach pendant. The 16 bit processor handles the overall operation of the system.

The controller provides the following major features for the control of the robot and the interaction with the I/O:

Speed control of all eight encoded motors that the controller is capable of running. It can also provide a controlled PWM signal to the two auxiliary ports.

The language that the controller obeys has been enhanced to obey over 100 kernel commands.

· The controller has the capability of storing programs in electrically erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EEPROM). No battery backup is required for this type of memory. This allows the robot to be operated without a computer once the robot has been taught its routine. This is a tremendous aid in the development of CIM and FMS cells by reducing the number of computers needed.

· Full hard wired handshake is implemented on the serial interfaces to the host computer and the teach pendant. This makes the communication secure and reliable at all times.

· A complete listing and printing capability has been added to both RoboTalk and the teach pendant operations to allow the student to get a hard copy of the program to look for errors and to make improvements.

· The teach pendant is an integral part of the controller. It has an alphanumeric, liquid crystal display consisting of two lines of 16 characters each. This allows the system to prompt the user with detailed messages and give a detailed view of the programming under progress.

· The operation of the teach pendant is closely integrated with the operation of the main controller.

· I/O switches have been integrated into the controller. Individual switches are connected to the input lines by the experimenter. This eliminates the need to build an entire workcell to investigate the operation of the I/O. It also allows the student to override the operation of an input line with the switch when necessary for testing purposes. LED's on each of the inputs and output lines indicate the status of these lines at all times.

· All inputs and output lines are optically isolated and current limited to provide for a more rugged system.

· All motor power circuits have automatic overload protection built into them. This prevents inadvertent short circuits on the motor lines from destroying the motor power circuitry and transistors.

· XYZ positioning is an integral part of the controller instruction set. Circular interpolation moves are fully supported. Joint coordinate moves are also fully supported.

RHINO ROBOTICS LTD.

5928 State Route 128
Miamitown, OH 45041-0230
Telephone: 513-353-9772
Fax: 513-353-4040