PF_Start

As previously mentioned, up to four Part types can run on the same feeder at the same time. This is accomplished by specifying each of the Part ID’s when executing the PF_Start statement.
For example, Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 all use Feeder#1. The feeder # was specified during the Part Wizard when each of the parts was originally created.

Only Parts that are assigned to the same feeder can be run together with PF_Start. To run all 4 parts on Feeder#1 at the same time, the code would look like the following.
PF_Start 1, 2, 3, 4

Part#1 will be the initial Active Part for this example. The feeder will initially use Part’s#1 vibration parameters. For this example, a value of "1" will be sent as the PartID parameter in each of the callback functions until PF_ActivePart is changed to a different Part ID.

KEY POINTS

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Unless PF_ActivePart is executed with a different PartID, the Active Part will continue to be the first Part in the PF_Start list.

If the user’s code attempts to start another part on the same feeder, a "Feeder In Use Error" will occur. The error is handled in the PF_Status callback and the status value will be constant PF_D_STATUS_FEEDERINUSE_ERROR.
Here is an example of how the "Feeder In Use" error can occur->
　　Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 are all using Feeder#1
PF_Start 1, 3, 4 ' starts a grouping of parts on Feeder#1

‘A "Feeder In Use" error will occur if the next line of code is executed
PF_Start 2
If you want to run all 4 parts on Feeder#1 at the same time, you must execute the following statement instead.
PF_Start 1, 2, 3, 4
A maximum of 2 robots can use the same feeder at the same time. If PF_Start attempts to run parts that use more than 2 robots on the same feeder at the same time, a "Max Robots Per Feeder" error will occur.
For example ->
　　Part 1: Uses Robot#1 and Feeder#1
　　Part 3: Uses Robot#2 and Feeder#1
　　Part 5: Uses Robot#3 and Feeder#1
PF_Start 1,3,5 <- Error 7731: The maximum number of simultaneous feeders for the controller type has been exceeded.