Machsupport Forum
Mach Discussion => Mach4 General Discussion => Topic started by: Cartierusm on January 10, 2021, 03:51:59 AM
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Hi all. I just won at auction a full sized Fanuc S-420iw Robot Arm. I've been watching Lignum Videos on Youtube for years. For those how haven't seen it they have a robot arm CNC'd with a Router head. Pretty awesome. Big work envelope; well not so much big as versatile.
So I'd like to do the same. I guess the questions are when controlling a robot do I run all the programming, g-code, through the controller that it comes with? Or do I run mach 4 through it's controller or do I bypass it all together and wire it as I would any CNC machine I've built from scratch?
I guess that would be a good place to start for some help. I've never used a robot before so I have the most basic understanding of how they work.
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Mach provides Step and Direction signals and assuming that is compatible with your arm driver electronics then you could connect it in much the same way as you would connect any other CNC machine.
The important thing to remember is that Mach does not calculate any kinematic movements so you would only be able to use the arm from ‘teach’ created Gcode. Creating a suitable hand controller to move the arm prior to recording each and every ‘teach’ position could also be a demanding task.
It is, of course, always possible that some clever soul could translate kinematic movements into Gcode that would run with Mach but so far there has not been any success (despite a number of claims).
Tweakie.
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Ok thanks. I wonder what the people that have used them for CNC routers are using for software, CAM and controller?
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Hi,
in a regular three axis CNC machine with orthogonal axes if you require a move from 0,0,0 to 0,0,5 say then pulses have to be
issued to just the X axis motor. Thus a g1 Gcode block need only specify the amount to be moved in that one direction, the other
motors remain idle but the move will complete.
With a robot arm it may be just to execute a simple move in one direction requires three, four or more of your robot arms motors will
have to move. That kind of coordinated multi motor action to produce a simple g1 Gcode is called kinematics, and is right up there in terms
of complexity. I suspect you will be required to use the Fanuc controller to get the kinematics right.
Let me guess....you got the robot arm for free.....but the controller costs millions?
A controller from a different manufacturer will give different results.......because, say, the centremost arm is longer than the Fanuc robot and
consequently the controlled point, the end of the arm, is more sensitive to movement of the centremost arm.
Craig
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Hi,
if you are interested in 'rolling your own' you might check out OpenRAVE, open source software for robotics, in particular IKFast, an analytic
Inverse Kinematics solver may be what you require.
I suspect you'll need to be very seriously geeky and quite possibly a bit nerdy as well....
Craig
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Hi,
boy are you in for a treat:
http://www.openrave.org/docs/0.8.0/tutorials/openravepy_examples/ (http://www.openrave.org/docs/0.8.0/tutorials/openravepy_examples/)
I revise my earlier post, that's seriously geeky AND way way nerdy!!!
Craig
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LOL Thanks Joe. No, I got it at auction with controller for $350. So even if it can't get it working as a cnc it'll still be fun to mess around with. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow so everything I know is from what I can find online. Once i have it in hand I can start to look at the programming and controls. Maybe I can have it shake people's hands for me so I stay safe.
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Hi,
$350 sounds like a steal......you didn't have to tromp on any old ladies or anything?
If I had the chance to get some hardware like that I'd be in too, perversely I think I'd use it as a tool changer for my mill.
Craig
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$350 for that beast?!?! It has almost a 3 meter horizontal reach!
Please tell me you plan to mount on the bench between the couch and the fridge and have it hand you beers at the push of a button. The ultimate home automation solution. ;D
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HAAA Something like that. Actually I'll take suggestions. CNC Router option was just an idea, but I already have a CNC of every type of machine. Just thought it'd be cool to mess with.
Tool Changer for a mill would be cool if it wasn't so big. I couldn't use this any of my current shops. I was thinking of pouring a cubic yard cement pad for it with casters, but don't think that would work as far stability while it's running.
So suggestions? So far, Mill tool changer, cnc router, part changer for cnc lathe, have it grind the bevels on my knives, use it to polish parts (both knife and polishing though work only for repetitive parts of the exact same thing which I never do.).
Automated welder would be cool, although I'm a very good welder and everything I make is one off, but this robot arm was made for the welding industry. The payload this robot arm can handle is massive, 350 lbs!!!
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That was my first thought; 'why would you want a robotic arm?'. Then the 350 dollar price tag changed that thought into why wouldn't you want a robotic arm.
The what to do with it question can come later.
But they are obviously mainly used for repetitive work (hence the bartender suggestion) so I will be interested in seeing what other people come up with.
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Hmmm I missed the bar tender suggestion. Funny you should mention that, I do actually own a bar and it would certainly do better than my employees. Luckily they don't frequent this forum LOL. It could be an interesting gimmick...until it become sentient and starts killing customers.
P.S. Well have a bar, but not open right now. Some kind of virus going around I hear.
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Hi,
rather more serious suggestion (than a cheap political shot) is to sell it. I would have thought there would be
businesses which could use such a robot and to such a business would be worth many thousands of dollars,
if you ca find tat business.
Craig
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Do you have the RS PC interface module? OP panel 1 or 2? RJ1,2 or 3 controller?
Have you powered it up? Batteries okay in the Arm base? Depending on controller you might also have batteries on the main controller in the cabinet.
depending on options you can drive it as a CNC very easily. There is even a platform that will import Gcode and stream it to the arm. The onboard memory is way tooo small for anything more than normal use case. You will have to drip feed "stream" the joint positions from a program on a PC.
and for fun mount a seat!!!
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=02827514781092031800
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Thanks for the reply. I ended up not getting it. i left it to be re-consigned. That thing was MASSIVE!! Way too big for what I wanted to do. This is an automotive type robot.