[Tools]-[Robot Manager]-[Jog & Teach] Panel

The [Jog & Teach] page is primarily used for jogging the robot to a desired position and teaching a point using the current coordinates and orientation.

You can jog the robot in World, Tool, Local, Joint, or ECP modes. You can also execute motion commands.

The [Robot Manager]-[Jog & Teach] page contains several controls, described below.

[Jogging] Group

This group contains controls for setting jog mode, speed, and jog buttons.

Symbol Item
a Jog Mode
b Speed
c Jog Buttons

Jog Mode

This dropdown list contains the following choices jog mode.

  • World: Jogs the robot along the X, Y, Z axes in the current local, tool, arm, and ECP.
    • For robots with 4 DOF (Cartesian coordinate or SCARA), you can also jog U (roll).
    • For robots with 6 DOF (vertical 6-axis (including N series)), you can jog U (Z axis rotation of the base coordinate system), V (Y axis rotation of the base coordinate system), and W (X axis rotation of the base coordinate system). When the [Jog & Teach] panel is displayed, Jog & Teach is set to "World".
  • Tool: Jogs the robot in the coordinate system defined by the current tool.
  • Local: Jogs the robot in the coordinate system defined by the current local.
  • Joint: Jogs each joint of the robot. A separate set of jog buttons will appear when using joint mode when using non-Cartesian robots.
  • ECP: Jogs the robot along the axes of the coordinate system defined by the current external control point. Coordinates are World coordinates.

Speed

The speed for jogging and motion commands can be changed by selecting Low or High. When starting RC+, the speed is set to "Low speed" when the [Robot Manager] window is displayed. Jogging is always in low power mode. The speeds and accelerations associated with the jog speed settings are shown below.

SCARA robot RS series

Speed Jog Method Speed Accel Decel
Low Continuous World/Tool/ECP XYZ 10 mm/sec 100 mm/sec2 200 mm/sec2
Continuous World/Tool/ECP UVW 2 deg/sec 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Continuous Joint * 10 deg/sec2 20 deg/sec2
Step 1/5 of default PTP speed Default PTP acceleration Default PTP deceleration
High Continuous World/Tool/ECP XYZ 50 mm/sec 100 mm/sec2 200 mm/sec2
Continuous World/Tool/ECP UVW 10 deg/sec 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Continuous Joint * 10 deg/sec2 20 deg/sec2
Step Default PTP speed Default PTP acceleration Default PTP deceleration

* Speed of Continuous Joint depends on the robot model

Vertical 6-axis robot, N series

Speed Jog Method Speed Accel Decel
Low Continuous World/Tool/ECP XYZ 10 mm/sec 200 mm/sec2 400 mm/sec2
Continuous World/Tool/ECP UVW 2 deg/sec 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Continuous Joint * 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Step 1/5 of default PTP speed Default PTP acceleration Default PTP deceleration
High Continuous World/Tool/ECP XYZ * 200 mm/sec2 400 mm/sec2
Continuous World/Tool/ECP UVW 15 deg/sec 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Continuous Joint * 20 deg/sec2 40 deg/sec2
Step Default PTP speed Default PTP acceleration Default PTP deceleration

* Speed of Continuous Joint and High speed Continuous XYZ depends on the robot model.

Jog Buttons

Use the jog buttons to jog the robot throughout the work envelope.

They can be controlled only by the mouse.

The robot jogs one step at a time as you click the button in either "Long", "Medium", or "Short" mode of the Jog Distance. The robot jogs continuously by holding the button down. To jog continuously without stepping, set the Jog Distance to Continuous. For details, refer to How to jog robot.

You can change the orientation of the jog buttons to align your PC monitor with the robot from the Epson RC+ 8.0 menu-[Setup]-[Preferences]-[Jog & Teach].

The jog buttons are displayed differently depending on the Jog mode.

  • For World, Local, Tool, and ECP jogging, the X, Y, Z, U, V, W buttons appear. (V and W are only for 6-axis robots (including N series))
  • For Joint jogging, the joint buttons labeled J1 - J6 appear.
  • The X, Y, and Z buttons jog the robot in the Cartesian axis.
  • The U buttons rotate the Tool coordinate system of the Z axis. (roll)
  • For 6-axis robots (including N series), the V buttons rotate the Tool coordinate system of the Y axis. (pitch)
  • The W buttons rotate the Tool coordinate system of the X axis. (yaw)

  • Local

    In the [Local] box, select the local coordinate system for jogging or teaching.

    Only Locals that have been defined are shown in the list. When you teach a point, the Local point attribute defaults to the current local number.

  • Tool

    In the [Tool] box, select the tool for jogging or teaching. Only Tools that have been defined are shown in the list.

  • Arm

    In the [Arm] box, select the arm for jogging or teaching.

    Only Arms that have been defined are shown in the list.

    KEY POINTS

    Arms are not used with 6-axis robots (including the N series). Arms cannot be change from the [Arm] box with a PG axis.

  • ECP

    In the [ECP] box, select the ECP to perform jog operation.

    Only ECPs that have been defined are shown in the list. ECPs are only allowed if the External Control Point option has been activated.

[Current Position] Group

This group displays the current position of the robot. There are three ways to display position.

  • World: Displays the current position and tool orientation in the selected local coordinate system
  • Joint: Displays the current joint values
  • Pulse: Displays the current encoder pulse count for each joint

[Current Arm Orientation] Group

This group displays the current arm orientation.

  • 6-axis robot: Hand orientation, Elbow orientation, wrist orientation, J1Flag value, J4Flag value, J6Flag value
  • N: Hand orientation, Elbow orientation, wrist orientation, J4Flag value, J6Flag value
  • RS series: Hand orientation, J1Flag value, J2Flag value
  • Others: Hand orientation

[Jog Distance] Group

There are radio buttons for selecting Continuous, Long, Medium, and Short jog distances.

When "Continuous" is selected, the robot operates in continuous jog mode and the [Jog Distance] box is grayed out and cannot be selected. If anything other than "Continuous" is selected, the distance specified in the [Jog Distance] box is considered as one step (step mode).

To change a jog distance, first select the distance to be changed, then type in the new value.

Distance Set Value * Default Value
Short More than 0 to 10 0.1
Medium More than 0 to 30 1
Long More than 0 to 180 10

* If you enter a too large value, an error message appears when you attempt to jog.

When the jog mode is changed, the jog distance units change appropriately between millimeters (mm) and degrees (deg).

KEY POINTS

When the jog distance is longer than the default, jog distance is reset to default status by rebooting Epson RC+.

[Teach Points] Tab

Select the [Teach] tab. This tab shows the current point file name and point number.

  • Use the [Teach] button to register the current robot position.
  • Use the [Edit] button to select and view the current point in the [Points] tab.
  • Click the [Save] button to save teach point data.

See How to teach points for more information.

[Execute Motion] Group

Select the [Execute Motion] tab.

This executes motion commands. You can execute commands such as Go, Move, Jump, Arc, Home, and Align (6-axis robots only).

  • Click the [Execute] button from this group to execute the motion.
  • When [USE LJM (Least Joint Motion)] checkbox is checked, posture of the manipulator is automatically adjusted to reduce the motion distance. The default setting is unchecked.

In the Epson RC+ 8.0 menu, clear the [Setup]-[Preferences]-[Jog & Teach]-[Enable motion commands] checkbox to disable motion command execution.

[Free Joints] Group

You can free one or more joints using the checkboxes. PG axis not available for 6-axis robots (including the N series).

  • Click the [Free All] button to free all joints from the servo control.
  • Click the [Lock All] button to lock all joints under the servo control.

[Hands] group

When hands are set, the [Hands] tab is displayed.

Item Description
Hand: Select the hand to operate from pull-down menu. In the pull-down menu, the registered hands are displayed for the robot selected in [Robot:] on the upper left of the [Robot Manager] window.
Hand_On button When this button is pressed, the Hand_On command is immediately executed for the hand selected above. Furthermore, when the return value of the Hand_On function is retrieved and the result is True, the LED display on the left of the button lights up.
  • : The return value of Hand_On function is True
  • : The return value of Hand_On function is False
Hand_Off button When this button is pressed, the Hand_Off command is immediately executed for the hand selected above. Furthermore, when the return value of the Hand_Off function is retrieved and the result is True, the LED display on the left of the button lights up.
  • : The return value of Hand_Off function is True
  • : The return value of Hand_Off function is False

For details of hand settings, refer to the following manual:.

"Hand Function Manual"

How to jog

In the upper left hand corner of the [Jog & Teach] page, you will see a control group called Jogging that contains jog buttons. In the World, Local, Tool, and ECP jog modes, the robot is jogged in the Cartesian coordinate system (X, Y, Z). In the Joint jog mode, each robot joint can be jogged separately.

The jog speed is determined by the Speed setting.

  • In step mode, each time you click a jog button, the robot moves along the appropriate axis by the amount specified in the [Jog Distance] control group.
  • If "Continuous" is selected in the [Jog Distance] group, the movement continues using linear interpolation while the jog key is held down. This is called continuous jog operation.

KEY POINTS

  • For robots other than the 6-axis robots, the jog motion in step mode is PTP (point to point) motion. It is difficult to predict exact jog motion trajectory in the PTP motion. Therefore, be careful that the robot doesn't collide with peripheral equipment and that the robot arms don't collide with the robot itself during jogging.

  • For the 6-axis robots, the jog motion is CP (Continuous Path) motion. Note that when jogging near the singularity, if you try to pass through the singularity, a warning dialog below will appear.

    Click the [OK] button and click the same Jog button again to jog using PTP motion and pass the singularity. It is difficult to predict exact jog motion trajectory in the PTP motion. Therefore, be careful that the robot doesn't collide with peripheral equipment and that the robot arms don't collide with the robot itself during jogging. Also, if you attempt the other jogs or operations, it cancels the switching to PTP motion. So when jogging near the singularity again, the same warning dialog will appear.

  • If passing the singularity in the continuous jog motion, the following warning message will appear.

    When jogging in continuous mode, if an out of range condition occurs, the robot motors will turn off and an error will be displayed. In this case you must execute a Reset and Motor On from the Control Panel page to continue the jog.

To jog

  1. Select the jog mode: World, Tool, Local, Joint, or ECP.

  2. Select the jog speed: “Low” or “High”.

  3. Select the jog distance (Continuous, Long, Medium, or Short) in the [Jog Distance] group. You can type in the desired jog distance when "Continuous" is not selected.

  4. Click on one of the jog buttons with the mouse button. If you hold the mouse button down, the robot will continue to jog.

    When jogging is started, the jog button color changes from yellow to cyan. After jogging is completed, the jog button color returns to yellow.

    If you click any jog button during a step jog, the robot will stop.

    KEY POINTS

    • You can change the orientation of the jog buttons to in the Epson RC+ 8.0 menu-[Setup]-[Preferences]-[Jog & Teach]. This allows you to align the orientation of the jog buttons with the orientation of the robot motion.

    • As shown in the illustrations below, when the robot reaches to the limit of the motion range during Continuous Jog motion, the robot stops before the limit of the motion range. Use Step Jog if you want to move the robot to the limit of the motion range. The robot motion stops when the following conditions are satisfied.

      • When the robot's current position becomes "approx. 5 mm or less from the limit of the motion range".

      • When the robot operates Continuous Jog motion in the direction reaching to the limit of motion range as shown in the illustrations below.

Jogging in Teach Mode

You can jog and move the robot at slow speed with the safeguard open by using the Teach Pendant. For more details, refer to the following manual:

  • "Robot Controller option Teach Pendant TP1 manual"
  • "Robot Controller option Teach Pendant TP2 manual"
  • "Robot Controller option Teach Pendant TP3 manual"
  • "Robot Controller option Teach Pendant TP4 manual"

How to teach points

To move the robot to the target point, the point data indicating the robot position is necessary.

Follow these steps to teach points from the [Robot Manager] :

  1. Select the point file you are teaching points for from the [Point File] dropdown list box on the [Teach] page.

  2. Select the point number you want to teach in the [Points] box.

  3. Jog the robot to the desired position. Alternatively, free the robot joints in the [Free Joints] tab, and manually move the robot into position. (Direct teaching)

  4. Click the [Teach] button. This will save the robot's current position data.

    In the Epson RC+ 8.0 menu, if the [Setup]-[Preferences]-[Jog & Teach]-[Prompt for new point information] check box is selected, you can enter point labels and comments. Point labels can include up to 32 alphanumeric characters and underscores. Only alphabets can be used for the first letter. Characters can be upper case or lower case.

KEY POINTS

As an alternative to clicking the [Teach] button, on the [Points] tab you can type in the coordinates of the point.

Saving your work

You can save your work in the following three ways.

  • In the [Teach...] tab, click the [Save] button.
  • In the Epson RC+ 8.0, click [File]-[Save], or click the  [Save] on the toolbar.
  • In the Epson RC+ 8.0 menu, execute [Project]-[Save], or click the  [Save all files] button on the toolbar.

When you want to restore the data without saving the point files, select [Restore] from the [File] menu.

When you close the [Robot Manager], you will be prompted if you want to save your changes. Click the [Yes] button to save changes. Click the [No] button to discard changes without saving.

← [Tools]-[Robot Manager]-[Points] Page →

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