Epson RC+ 7.0 Robot Simulator: Setup, Testing, and Debugging

Summary

This article is the fourth in a series to explain the basics of creating a base project using Epson RC+, Epson’s software for developing and simulating an industrial robotic application. Epson offers a wide range of industrial robots for a variety of applications. Programming and configuring are done through their easy-to-use configuration software, Epson RC+, which offers many time-saving features and various add-on packages depending on the complexity of each application. In this article, we will cover the configuration of the Robot Simulator and demonstrate some useful features for simulating and testing the robot program prior to deployment in the field.

Set up Virtual Controller

The first step to simulate the robot is to configure a virtual controller. This is done through the Setup > PC to Controller Communications menu. Here, you can add a new Controller as a virtual controller. Once added, the controller can be given a different name, and then click ‘Apply’.

For this demo, we utilized the Robot model LS6-B502S. Also, important for this demo are the points used in the program logic shown below.

Using the Connection dropdown, select the new virtual controller that was created. This will start up the virtual controller and allow us to control the robot in the simulator. Open the Robot Simulator by using the toolbar icon.

Robot Simulator Environment

The Robot simulator environment has several different features and functions to test parts of the robot application. The most basic use case is to import CAD shapes or models to create a simulated environment for the application. The first 4 icons in the Robot Simulator allow the user to add 2D and 3D objects to the workspace. By default, a 2D plane is generated, with the robot placed at the world origin. Often, a robot is mounted on a pedestal that requires the user to move it with some offset relative to the origin; however, we will keep the robot at the origin for simplicity in this example.

The first objects we will add to the simulation will be two rectangles to emulate stations within the machine. Click on the SPlane_1 object, then click on the layout box (purple cube) icon at the top. The size, position, and colors were modified as shown.

Devices mounted to the robot arm, such as a camera, are configured as mounted devices. This means the device will move with the robot rather than remain in a fixed position. To attach a device to the robot, right-click on the device in the layout tree and select Part/Mounted Device Settings. Two cylinders were added to the layout to emulate a camera mounted to the end of the second robot arm. The smaller red cylinder is just added as a reference to show where the center of the camera’s field of view is located. For this cylinder, we have disabled the Collision check option, since it will not be physically present in the actual application.

CAD models can also be imported to the simulation environment using the CAD icon in the toolbar rather than relying solely on basic shapes. Supported file types include XV3, VRML, STEP, IGES, and DXF. The dialog offers options for Scale Units, rendering quality, and CAD-to-Point functionality. If CAD-to-Point is enabled, the user can generate robot points directly from the CAD model for use in the robot program. The CAD to Point function is in the toolbar at the top. Once selected, you can click on an edge, and the simulator will automatically generate points for the number of vertices found on the CAD model.

This example shows how the CAD model provides robot points for the two corners of the part tray by simply selecting the right edge of the tray’s cavity. The selected edge endpoints are shown as the yellow spheres in the screenshot below. We have exported these two points into the points file at indices 5 and 6.

The simulator can also import CAD models as ‘Hands’, which are the same as the robot’s end-of-arm tooling. The hands are treated as an extension of the robot, so they will move and rotate with the robot. When importing hands, you can adjust the mounting position and orientation to emulate the tooling assembly on the robot. Below is a CAD model imported that has different-style grippers on either end.

Testing Your Epson Robot

Now that the 3D environment is set up, you can move the robot around using the robot manager, running a program function in the ‘Run’ window, or using the Robot Operation Panel in the Simulator environment. We put together a short demo program to move the robot between a couple of positions while enabling a trace of the Tool Center Point (TCP) with a green line.

The Robot simulator also has several other useful features, such as surveillance planes and areas, recording and playback options, rendering point locations in 3D space, and much more. For more assistance with Epson Robot programming and integration, please reach out to DMC’s Industrial Automation team!