Horizontal Indexer Setup

Started by distantkitty, November 12, 2022, 05:59:11 PM

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distantkitty

I'm trying to configure a Kuka Indexer that is horizontal. Most tutorials I've found have the indexer in the vertical position. I have a piece of stock material that I'm trying to cut off, much as if you were to "part off" on a lathe.
My toolpathing now has the rotary fixed, but the mill circling about the toolpath. I'm trying to rotate the indexer and slowly move the spindle down in Z.

I would appreciate any guidance.

internalized GH attached :)

Thanks!

Johannes @ Robots in Architecture

Hello,

I had a look at your file and made some fixes!

For the custom turntable, construct it at the Rhino origin and then set its position via the right-click menu to set XYZABC values. Ideally also create the meshes yourself, plugging the polysurfaces in directly will result in very heavy meshes and slower performance.
The same applies for the toolpath, draw it at the zero position!

For simple cases, you can use the dynamic rotary axis via the KUKA|prc settings, I've already activated it in my file.
Finally, it depends on the turntable how it is configured, so I'd see the current version primarily as a way for initial testing.
You could also calibrate it in a way that the robot seems "flipped" in relation to the turntable that looks vertical - that would also be fine as it's just a matter of the position in relation to each other!

Hope that helps!

Best,
Johannes

distantkitty

Thanks! I just checked out the .gh, the comments really helped!
I think I would of been chasing my tail all day, I didn't realize I had to set the rotary to Rhino origin.... but it makes sense now.

Johannes @ Robots in Architecture

Perfect, thanks for the update!
Best,
Johannes

distantkitty

Is there a way to define the rotary root frame parametrically/externally? Maybe I'm approaching this incorrectly.

I'm trying to visualize my cells boundary.... say 5mx5m rectangle cell.  I could use a rectangle component and define my cell boundary and have my rotary in the center of the cell?

Thanks!

Johannes @ Robots in Architecture

Hello,

Usually, the position of the turntable is defined by the physical position of the turntable, it's not something people change often.
Are you trying to automatically optimize the position of the turntable?
For use within KUKA|prc you would define the geometry of your cell via the Robot Cell component, which then shows up semi-transparent around the robot.

Can you provide some more details on what you want to do?

Best,
Johannes

distantkitty

.... oh man, I'm sorry. I totally missed that component.
That did exactly what I wanted.

Thanks :)

Johannes @ Robots in Architecture

Perfect!
With all meshes, ideally mesh them yourself so that you don't get a performance hit from using hundreds of thousands of vertices as cell geometry!

Best,
Johannes