Conveyor Tracking - Universal Robots UR5e User Manual

17.1 General
when a program is running and high when it is stopped or paused. These values can be set
while the program is running. General purpose output registers of type boolean and digital
MODBUS output signals also support this.
Finally, it is also possible to specify whether an output can be controlled on the I/O tab (by
either programmers, or both operators and programmers) or if it is only robot programs that
may alter the output value.

17.1.7 Conveyor Tracking

When using a conveyor, the robot can be configured to track its movement. The Conveyor Track-
ing Setup provides options for configuring the robot to work with absolute and incremental en-
coders, as well as linear and circular conveyors.
Conveyor Parameters
Incremental encoders can be connected to Digital Inputs 0 to 3. Decoding of digital signals
runs at 40kHz. Using a Quadrature encoder (requiring two inputs), the robot can determine
the speed and direction of the conveyor. If the direction of the conveyor is constant, a
single input can be used to detect either Rising, Falling, or Rise and Fall edges which
determine conveyor speed.
Absolute encoders can be connected through a MODBUS signal. This requires a Digital MOD-
BUS Input register is preconfigured in (section 17.4.1).
Linear conveyors
When a linear conveyor is selected, a line feature must be configured in the Features part of
the installation to determine the direction of the conveyor. The line feature should be parallel
to the direction of the conveyor, and there should be a large distance between the two points
defining the line feature. Configure the line feature by placing the tool firmly against the side
of the conveyor when teaching the two points. If the line feature's direction is opposite to the
conveyor's movement, use the Reverse direction button.
The field Ticks per meter field displays the number of ticks the encoder generates when the
conveyor moves one meter.
Circular conveyors
When tracking a circular conveyor, the conveyor center point must be defined.
1. Define the center point in the Features part of the installation. The value of Ticks per rev-
olution must be the number of ticks the encoder generates when the conveyor rotates one
full revolution.
2. Select the Rotate tool with conveyor checkbox if the tool's orientation should be with re-
spect to the conveyor (e.g. if the tool is perpendicular to the conveyor, it will stay perpen-
dicular during the movement).
3. Deselect the Rotate tool with conveyor checkbox if the orientation should be controlled by
the trajectory.
Version 5.0.2
ticks per revolution of encoder
Ticks per meter =
2π · radius of encoder disc[m]
II-75
(17.1)
CB5