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1. MACHINE BASICS

NAME
ROBOTIC ESSENTIALS

LOCATION
ONLINE AND IN THE CNC LAB

DATE
ONGOING

DURATION ONLINE
10 min

DURATION PRACTICAL
60 min

MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS
BE REGISTERED ON OUR WEBSITE

READ THROUGH THE ONLINE GUIDE AND COMPLETED SOME 3D PRINTING

LEARNING OUTCOMES
BASIC ROBOTIC KNOWLEDGE

HAZARDS
CRUSHING, COLLISION

REMEMBER
ALWAYS STOP THE MACHINE BEFORE MAKING ADJUSTMENTS

Robotic Essentials will teach you the fundamentals of using the robotic arms. It is divided into two parts, an online part and a practical that will put into practice what you have learnt.
The course starts below by taking you through some basic steps you need to learn to start using the lab. It will also teach the Hazards and Controls involved in using a 6 axis robot, and what you can use it for. You will need to complete a short quiz then you will be ready to learn to prepare your files.

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ROBOTS

1. ROBOTS ARE ANYTHING THAT CAN CARRY OUT A PHYSICAL AUTOMATED TASK. WHAT WE ARE USING IS A 6 AXIS ROBOTIC ARM

2. ROBOTIC ARMS MOVE. IT IS THE END EFFECTOR THAT DEFINES WHAT A ROBOTIC ARM DOES.

The robot you will use is fitted with an extruder, so that is what it does. It extrudes material along a line called a toolpath.

3. THE ROBOT ONLY OPERATES WHEN THE 'DEAD MAN' SWITCH IS ACTIVATED

Robots can be extreamly dangerous. The 'dead man' switch will immediately stop the machine if let go.

4. THE ROBOTIC ARM IS AN EXTREAMELY EXPENSIVE PIECE OF INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT. PLEASE RESPECT IT.

Please hang the pendent up when not in use.

5. ROBOTIC ARMS CAN BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS

Robots can be extremely dangerous. This is the second time we have said it. It is true. Although Ito is relatively small, that does not mean it is not dangerous. It can move extremely fast and with great force, it will easily crush a misplaced hand. To control this hazard any adjustments you need to make you must stop the machine first.

5 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT USING THE ROBOTIC ARM

1. YOUR FILE MUST BE CHECKED AND THE CODE GENERATED BY A MEMBER OF STAFF.

Robots can be unpredictable and very dangerous. We insist that all files run on the robots are checked by a member of staff first. Once the file has been checked we will book you in.

2. YOU CAN ONLY USE THE ROBOT FOR WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN SHOWN IN THE ROBOTIC ESSENTIALS 

Although 6 axis robotic arms can be used for a wide variety of applications dependent on what end effector is fitted (the tool at the end of the arm) we will be teaching you to use the robot for additive manufacturing using material extrusion. Once completed, this will be the process you can use.

3. IF YOU WANT TO USE YOUR OWN MATERIAL YOU MUST COMPLETE THE MATERIAL EXTRUSION UPSKILL COURSE

4. IF IN DOUBT, DON'T ASSUME. STOP! ASK FOR HELP

The robots are designed for industrial applications, you can cause great damage by pressing the wrong button.

5. ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR ESSENTIALS YOU CAN BOOK YOUR SLOT

Like the laser cutters and CNC machines the robot is a bookable resource book via the Additive Manufacturing Lab page.

5 WORDS / CONCEPTS TO KNOW

1. END EFFECTOR

This is the tool that is connected to the robotic arm. This can be a gripper for picking up objects or a spindle for milling or in our case an extruder

2. TOOLPATH

This is the line that the center point of the tool follows. With the extruder this is the tip of the nozzle.

3. CORBELLING

The stepover of material from one layer to the next creating the gradiant of the form.To much and the form will collapse.

4. FLOW RATE

This is the speed at which the material is extruded from the nozzle. There are 3 variables that effect this.

  1. The viscosity of the clay (how much water has been added).
  2. The diameter of the nozzle (this is fixed at 4mm).
  3. The Pressure applied to extrude the material. This is adjusted by you.

5. G CODE / ABB RAPID

The toolpath that is created to descibe your geometry needs to be converted into a language the machine can understand. For 3D printers and other CNC machines this is called G-code. The Robotic Arm requires more information so it is a custom language for all ABB robots called ABB Rapid.

NEXT STEPS

Once you have completed the quiz you will move on to preparing your files.

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