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

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:

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: