Robot Arm

Universal Robots UR5 Guide: Startup

• Power up UR bot using button on the face of the pendant.

• The program will load and you will see a screen titled: “Initialize Robot”

    o Press “START”
    o Press “OK”

• You will be taken to the user interface; here you can choose to Run a pre-existing program, create a new program using “Program Robot”, or perform set up functions such as updating, calibration etc.

Creating a Basic Program

• Select: “PROGRAM ROBOT”

• Select: “Empty Program”

• The column on the left side of the screen is a list of all actions to be performed by the program in sequence. To program a new movement select <empty program>

• Select the “Structure” tab on the right-hand portion of the screen.

• From the “BASIC” tab, select “Waypoint”. (This generates the new items “Move…” and “Waypoint” in the list on the left)

• Select “Waypoint” from the list, then go to the Command tab.

• Select “Set this waypoint”

• You will be taken to a new screen with various movement controls. It is recommended to either use the arrows to move each joint individually (lower right portion of the screen), or alternatively you can press and hold the button labelled: “Freedrive”, which allows you to drag the robot arm to the desired location by hand.

• Once you have placed the arm in the desired location, select “OK” in the bottom right corner of the screen.

• The first waypoint is now set and you can repeat the steps above to program the next movement.

Helpful Tips

• When programming the first waypoint, it is helpful to start with a “stowed” position which the robot arm can start from. If you are programming a lot of actions it becomes increasingly beneficial to return the arm to this position to iron out errors as you go along. You can also repeat this waypoint in the final step of the program so the arm can return to the initial position; this makes for a more seamless loop when the program repeats.

• When programming finite movements, think “connect the dots”; a straight line will require only two waypoints, while a curve will require multiple waypoints placed closer together.

• It is best to verify and troubleshoot each set of movements as they are completed. If you wait until you have a whole string of movements before checking the program you may run into complications which will be much more difficult to fix.

    o To troubleshoot, you can select any movement you have already programmed, then select “move robot here” from the command 
      screen. 
    o Doing this in series with about 3-5 waypoints at a time helps to keep all movements on the desired track.  

• Select “Set this waypoint”

• You will be taken to a new screen with various movement controls. It is recommended to either use the arrows to move each joint individually (lower right portion of the screen), or alternatively you can press and hold the button labelled: “Freedrive”, which allows you to drag the robot arm to the desired location by hand.

• Once you have placed the arm in the desired location, select “OK” in the bottom right corner of the screen.

• The first waypoint is now set and you can repeat the steps above to program the next movement.