Arm

Introduction

The Arm blocks control the movement of the V5 Workcell Robotic Arm. These blocks are used to move the arm between coordinates, set its motion parameters, and manage its setup and calibration.

They can be used together with the Electromagnet tool for picking and placing object.

Below is a list of available blocks:

Actions – Control how the Robotic Arm moves and operates during a project.

• linear move – Moves the Robotic Arm in a straight line to a specific position using Cartesian (x, y, z) coordinates.

• joint move – Moves each joint of the Robotic Arm to a specific angle.

• start mastering process – Begins the arm’s calibration routine to align joints to reference positions.

• activate emergency stop – Immediately stops all movement of the Robotic Arm for safety.

Settings – Configure the Robotic Arm’s motion behavior, calibration, and attached tools.

• set mastering – Sets the reference calibration positions for the arm’s joints.

• set angle – Adjusts the orientation of the arm’s end effector.

• set tool – Defines the active tool attached to the Robotic Arm.

• set linear move speed – Adjusts how quickly the Robotic Arm performs linear movements.

• set joint move speed – Sets the rotation speed of the arm’s joints for joint moves.

• set to manual movement – Allows the Robotic Arm to be positioned manually by hand.

• set origin to current position – Sets the current position as the new origin point.

Values – Report position and sensor data from the Robotic Arm.

• Arm position – Returns the current (x, y, z) position of the Robotic Arm.

• joint potentiometer value – Returns the current angle of a specific joint using its potentiometer.

Actions

linear move

The linear move block moves the Robotic Arm without rotating the base to a specific position using Cartesian (x, y, z) coordinates in millimeters using the set linear velocity.

Move the arm in a straight line to a position

linear move [RoboticArm1 v] to x: [0] y: [0] z: [0]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
x	The target x coordinate.
y	The target y coordinate.
z	The target z coordinate.

joint move

The joint move block moves the Robotic Arm in the shortest direct movement to a specific position using Cartesian (x, y, z) coordinates in millimeters using the set joint velocity.

Move the arm using joint movement

joint move [RoboticArm1 v] to x: [0] y: [0] z: [0]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
x	The target x coordinate.
y	The target y coordinate.
z	The target z coordinate.

start mastering process

The start mastering process block begins the Robotic Arm’s mastering process.

Start the mastering process

start [RoboticArm1 v] mastering process

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.

activate emergency stop

The activate emergency stop block immediately stops all movement of the Robotic Arm.

Activate an emergency stop

activate [RoboticArm1 v] emergency stop

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.

Settings

set mastering

The set mastering block sets the reference mastering positions of the Robotic Arm joints manually.

Set joint mastering positions

set [RoboticArm1 v] mastering to j1: [0] j2: [0] j3: [0] j4: [0]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
j1	Calibration position for joint 1 in degrees.
j2	Calibration position for joint 2 in degrees.
j3	Calibration position for joint 3 in degrees.
j4	Calibration position for joint 4 in degrees.

set angle

The set angle block adjusts the Robotic Arm’s end effector to be held up or down.

Set the arm’s angle

set [RoboticArm1 v] angle to [up v]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
angle	Which angle to set: up down

set tool

The set tool block sets which tool the Robotic Arm is using.

For information on coding the Electromagnet tool, see the Magnet page.

Set the active tool

set [RoboticArm1 v] tool to [none v]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
tool	Which tool to set: none electromagnet marker

set linear move speed

The set linear move speed block sets how quickly the Robotic Arm moves when using the linear move block.

Adjust the arm’s linear movement speed

set [RoboticArm1 v] linear move speed to [normal v]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
speed	The linear speed to set: slow normal (default) fast

set joint move speed

The set joint move speed block sets how quickly the Robotic Arm moves when using the joint move block.

Adjust the arm’s joint movement speed

set [RoboticArm1 v] joint move speed to [normal v]

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
speed	The joint speed to set: slow normal (default) fast

set to manual movement

The set to manual movement block allows the Robotic Arm to be moved freely by hand for positioning or teaching. This block can not be disabled after being used. A project must be restarted to disable manual movement mode.

Enable manual movement

set [RoboticArm1 v] to manual movement

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.

set origin to current position

The set origin to current position block sets the current arm position as the new origin point (0, 0, 0).

Set the origin

set [RoboticArm1 v] origin to current position

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.

Values

Arm position

The Arm position block reports the current x, y, or z coordinate of the Robotic Arm.

Get the arm’s current position

([RoboticArm1 v] position [x v])

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
axes	Which axes to return the coordinate of: x y z

joint potentiometer value

The joint potentiometer value block reports the current potentiometer value of a specified joint.

Read a joint’s potentiometer value

([RoboticArm1 v] joint [1] potentiometer value)

Parameter	Description
device	Which Robotic Arm to use, configured in the Devices window.
joint	Which joint to return the potentiometer value of: 1 2 3 4