Program execution

An important goal in off-line programming concerns the creation of robot application programs which are executable to a maximum extent on the shop floor. This means that manual interactions to run application programs in the real robot (re-teaching) should be minimized. To reach this goal two important fields have to be considered. The first field concerns the communication link between the off-line area and the shop-floor. The second field deals with deviations between the nominal data used for layout planning and programming, and the real data of the work cell and the robot on the shop floor. Both fields are discussed in this chapter, which treats the following prerequisites and tools necessary for the execution of off-line generated application programs: - Interface between off-line programming system and robot control.; - Protocol definition for data exchange; - Code generator for the robot programming language; - Robot calibration tools, which assure the required accuracy to allow the execution of off-line generated programs; - Determination and compensation of environment and workpiece deviations.