After having completed the Setup Tutorials, we are now ready to develop our first dispensing application. In general, the Setup Tutorials will not have to be re-executed unless the tooling or some element of the work cell is modified.
In the last section of this chapter, the Sample Applications Templates contain four example dispensing patterns.
» Print the "Template #1: Sample Square Path" and secure it to the robot's work surface. This template contains the square dispensing pattern that we will train in this tutorial.
STEP 1: TEACH THE GLOBAL FRAME
All Node locations are defined relative to a reference frame. In the absence of a special frame, Node locations are defined relative to the Global Frame. The value of this frame can be left unchanged, but it is good form to always start an application by setting this frame to a meaningful value. For this tutorial, we will align the Global Frame with the X & Y axes drawn on the template.
» Open the Global Frame definition panel Configuration > Global Frame.
Within GD, frames are defined by specifying three points: the origin of the frame, a point on the X-axis and a point roughly on the Y-axis.
» Execute the frame teaching aid by pressing Teach Frame Wizard and confirm that you wish to continue by clicking Yes.
» When asked, select the head that you will use during this Wizard by clicking Head_x.
» When asked to record the Origin, Point On X and Point On Y, manually position the selected syringe tip at the points on the template marked "Origin", "POX" and "POY" and click the Record button at each position. (As a convenience, the "Line" button on the Air Dispenser can be used in place of Record and its "Free" button can be used to manually position the robot.)
» Press the Save button to store the results on the flash disk. Respond Yes when asked if it is okay to delete the existing file.
This completes the training of the reference frame.
STEP 2: CREATE A NEW "PATH" AND TEACH ITS "NODES"
A Path contains a sequence of positions ("Nodes") that defines the motion of the syringe tip and specifies when dispensing is turned on and off. A single Path can only define the actions for a single syringe head. Normally, Paths are kept relatively short since multiple Paths can be combined into the final dispensing "Process" that is executed.
Given the simplicity of this example, we only need to create a single Path to define the desired dispensing operation.
» Open the Path Editor panel, Edit > Path Editor .
The top of the panel is for managing and defining Paths. The middle right section is utilized when a Path is defined relative to the results from PreciseVision. The bottom is for managing and defining Nodes (positions) in the currently selected Path.
We will use a wizard to create the new Path and to create and record the positions of its Nodes.
» To create the Path, under "Path Files", click New.
» A pop-up will be displayed that asks "Create new path file or Teach new path file?". Pressing "CreateNew" will create a new Path but will not define any Nodes. To create the Path and to create and teach the Node positions, press TeachNew.
» When requested, enter the name of the new Path as "Square" (with no quotes).
» When prompted, specify the dispense head you will use for training and to dispense by clicking either Head_1 or Head_2.
The pop-up panel from the teach wizard will now ask you to teach the position for the first Node in the new Path.
From this wizard, you can teach the positions of Line, Arc, and Break Path Nodes. Other Node Types can be inserted later. Also, the Types of the taught Nodes can be subsequently modified.
» Using any of the manual control methods, position the syringe tip at P1 on the template. It is normally easiest to have the syringe tip lightly touch the template. The Z heights of the positions can be adjusted individually or as a group later.
» Create the first Node as a Line Type and record its position by either clicking the RecLine button in the pop-up or pressing the green Line Button on the Air Dispenser.
» Repeat the process for the other positions, P2, P3, P4, P5 and P6
» Terminate position teaching by pressing Quit.
The editor panel should now resemble the following:
Note that although you taught 6 Line Nodes, when displayed, the first Node is a series of straight-line motions is labeled "LineStrt" and the final Node is labeled "LineEnd". This is automatically done by GD to make the list of points more understandable.
STEP 3: EDIT NODE AND PATH PROPERTIES
If you click on a line in "Path Points", the Node's position relative to the Global Frame is displayed at the bottom right together with other information about the Node. Currently each Node is a Line Type and has dispensing turned off.
Using the buttons next to the Node display, you can edit the Path by adding or deleting Nodes, recording new position values, etc. The "Set Value" button permits a coordinate value to be changed in a group of Nodes. The "Advanced" button permits a group of Nodes to be copied or deleted or for new Nodes to be inserted using the teaching method.
Before we execute this Path, we wish to edit a few properties.
» To turn on dispensing at the first Node, in "Path Points", click on "1. LineStrt" and in "Selected Path Point" data, pull-down the list of options below "Dispense" and select Turn On.
» To turn off dispensing at the final Node, in "Path Points", click on "6. LineEnd" and in "Selected Path Point" data, pull-down the list of options below "Dispense" and select Turn Off.
To the right of the "Dispense" pull-down list, you will see the "Mode" and "Value" fields. These fields have different interpretations for the different Node Types. For the Line and Arc Nodes, these values control when dispensing is turned on or off relative to the start or end of the motion. In this example, since the motions for P1 and P6 overlap slightly, these field can be used to delay turning on dispensing or to turn it off early.
We now wish to modify the parameters that apply to the Path overall.
» In the Path "Global" data, change the "Dispense Spd" and the "Trans Spd" to "5" mm/sec. This reduces the nominal speeds when fluid is and is not dispensed.
» Set the "Approach" and "Depart" heights to "50" mm. This increases that height that the robot will move above the first and last Nodes when starting and ending the Path.
» Set the "Z" value of the "Offset" to "10". This will lift all of the Node positions by 10 mm. Once the Path has been verified, this value can be reduced to obtain the correct distance between the syringe tip and the surface to properly dispense the fluid.
» Click the Save Path button to save the changes and respond Yes to the confirmation.
STEP 4: CREATE THE PROCESS
To assist in debugging, it is possible to execute a single Path directly from the Path Editing panel. But, since our entire Process will consist of one Path, we will directly move to creating and executing the full application.
» Open the Process Editor panel, Edit > Path Editor .
» To create the Process, click New.
» When requested, enter the new process name as "Square_Proc" (without quotation marks) and click OK to confirm.
» In "Process Files", click on Square_Proc. In "Available Paths", click on Square.
» To add the Square Path to the Square_Proc Process, press Append.
» Click the Save button to save the changes to the flash disk, and click OK to confirm.
This completes the creation of the Process. If we had more Paths to add, they would appear in the "Available Paths" list and could be appended as well.
STEP 5: EXECUTE THE PROCESS
We are now ready to execute this Process.
» Open the Operator Control panel, Operator > .
In order to execute the Process, motor power must be enabled and the robot must already be homed as indicated in the "Robot Status". In the Select Process area, the overall speed of the robot can be reduce for testing.
» Reduce the speed of all robot motions by clicking the 10 % speed button.
» To inhibit dispensing fluid during testing, check the Disable Outputs box.
» Select the application to run by clicking on Square_Proc and press the Start to begin execution.
Congratulations! You have just developed and executed your first dispensing application with Guidance Dispense.
At this time, we suggest that you try running the application at various speeds and adjusting the Z height of the Path offset with the dispense outputs enabled until you achieve a good, consistent dispensed fluid pattern.
For additional practice, you should print out the remaining three examples in the Sample Applications Templates and program these test patterns as well. Each sheet has the list of Nodes that should be trained to produce the test pattern.