October 4 , 2006

Welcome to the October 2006 issue of Motoman Direct, containing news, product information, and updates from Motoman Inc. 

Featured Products

MotoEye LT™ Laser Seam-Tracking
High-speed laser seam-tracking software, integrated with a 3D laser-based camera, enables Motoman robots to precisely track thin-gage (0.5 mm/0.02") weld joints at high speeds, even while the parts are turning on a coordinated positioner ...

New!!! DA20 Robot » 
Motoman's unique 20-kg payload robot is ideal for a wide variety of assembly and part handling applications ...

New!!!  IA20 Robot 
Revolutionary 7-axis actuator-driven design enables amazing freedom of movement coupled with ability to maneuver in very tight areas, opening new applications to robot automation ...

Yes, I would like a member of Motoman's sales team to contact me about the above product(s).

Corporate News

Yaskawa Motoman Canada Celebrates Tenth Anniversary
YMC hosted an Open House and Customer Appreciation Day September 20 at their facility in Mississauga, Ontario, to celebrate their tenth anniversary in Canada.  Nearly 200 guests attended the demos, technical presentations and celebratory events ...

Motoman to Host Solution Provider Technical Forum October 3-5 
More than 150 representatives from third-party integrators are scheduled to participate in this year's Forum.  This year's theme is "Working with Motoman ... That's Easy!"  The Forum will include technical presentations on a wide range of new Motoman products, lab demonstrations, and related activities.

Visit Motoman's E-Commerce Site
Launched in January 2006, Motoman's new e-commerce site expands our customers' ability to place orders on-line beyond training to also include spare parts, software and manuals. Our e-commerce site features 24/7 on-line tracking of spare parts delivery and other order status information. Please follow the link below to complete your registration and begin using the site!

Click on the following links to see Motoman's latest ads:
"Motoman Points the Way"
"EPL-Series Palletizing Robots"

Editorials, Case Studies, & Articles

"Robots Make Graders Greater" - Welding Design & Fabrication - August 2006
Volvo Motor Graders (Goderich, Ontario) added a fifth Motoman welding cell that significantly increased their frame welding capability by more than 30%.  The new frame cell uses an extended-reach six-axis Motoman HP50-20 robot mounted on a shuttle track between two heavy-duty positioners to perform heavy-deposition welding on large frame parts using a tandem arc process...

"Mixing It Up with Advanced Robotics" - September 11, 2006 - Modern Machine Shop IMTS Show Daily.  Article by Gary Vasilash, Editor in Chief of Automotive Design & Production (www.autofieldguide.com)writes about the impressive technology showcased by the 11-axis, dual-arm DA9IC robot in RoboBar HP, and the dual-arm DA20 robot with 13-axes of motion shown working along with a 7-axis IA20 robot performing jigless assembly and welding...

"Robots Help Alpine Achieve Peak Performance, Productivity" - Robotics Online - Mid-Sept. 2006 - Sept. 5, 2006. - Four Motoman robotic welding cells, including two with EA1900N "Expert Arc" welding robots invert-mounted from MotoSweep(tm) transport beams, have tremendously increased productivity and quality at Alpine Engineered Products Inc.'s Equipment Division ...

"Laser Seam-Tracking Improves Weld Quality" - Robotics Online - Mid-Sept. 2006.
Newer laser seam-tracking and seam-finding technology is faster and enables adaptive control... 

 "Auto-Palletizing Solves Putter's Production Pickle" - Plant - September 18 issue,
pages 32-33
Aliment Putter's Foods Inc. implemented a Motoman four-axis SP100X robot that now palletizes cases of pickled products as fast as they can produce them ...

MOTOMAN DA20 Robot on Cover -- Plastics Technology - September 2006
Motoman DA20 robot appears on the cover of this issue and is also discussed in the "Brains and Brawn" technology article by Senior Editor Mikell Knights.

More articles...

Helpful Hints

Each issue of Motoman Direct includes "helpful hints" designed to provide bits of practical advice and programming tips that will help our customers maximize the productivity of their Motoman robots. 

Problem: I need to modify the software limits for certain axes on my robot.

Solution: Software limits are used to control the desired range of motion for specific (S- through T-) axes of motion.   To increase or decrease soft limits for a robot with an XRC controller, reset the following parameter values to the desired pulse count limit:
 
S1C1G 070 - S1CIG 075 -- These are the positive motion values.  The S-axis is 070, L-axis is 071, U-axis is 072, R-axis is 073, B-axis is 074 and T-axis is 075.
S1CIG 078 - S1CIG 083  -- These are the negative motion values.  The S-axis is 078, and so forth, with the T-axis being 083.

For a robot with an NX100 controller, change the following parameters to increase or decrease the software limits:

S1C1G 200 - S1C1G 205 -- These are the positive motion values. The S-axis is 200, and so forth, with 205 being T-axis.
S1S1G 208 - S1C1G 213 -- These are the negative values.  The S-axis starts with 208, and so forth, with the T-axis being 213.

Problem: I want to use the robot interface to change the weld schedule on a Miller Auto Axcess power source.

Solution: To use the robot interface to change the weld schedule on a Miller Auto Axcess power source, you need to change the output bits (I/O points) to the desired weld schedule.  You must strike an arc before the Miller power source will acknowledge the change on its front display panel.

For more helpful hints, click here.

Customer Satisfaction & Training

New!! NX Shifting Utilities and Operands courses
Available as computer-based training/web-based training (e-learning) modules.  NX Shift Utilities course teaches how to apply shifting utilities to robot jobs and programmed positions that need to be quickly and easily modified to a new location. 

NEW!! Operands course
Covers the logical Relay Operand numbering system for the Concurrent I/O Ladder.

Register Online for Motoman Training Classes
You can register for all Motoman training classes in the U.S. and Canada on-line through Motoman's website.

Trade Shows

Motoman products and services will be exhibited at the following trade shows and expositions.  If you plan to attend, please visit our booth:

If you were unable to attend IMTS 2006 - September 6-13 - Chicago, IL - Booth B-6400 - but would like a copy of our  post-show mailer, click here to download a .pdf. 

PackExpo - October 29-November 2 - Chicago, IL  - Booth #S-1495.
AWS/FabTech - October 31-November 2 - Atlanta, GA - Booth #19016.
NextFest 06 - September 29 - October 1 - Javits Center/Hall 3B - New York City, NY - Booth #312 (RoboBar)
Vision & Robots for Automotive Manufacturing - October 17-18 - Sheraton Detroit Novi Hotel --
Novi, MI
National Robot Safety Conference XVIII - October 2-5 - Drawbridge Inn, Ft. Mitchell, KY (Greater Cincinnati Area)

MotoQuote Puzzle

Decipher the following encrypted "MotoQuote" phrase and e-mail the answer, along with your name, company name, company address, and work phone number to marykay.morel@motoman.com. 
On October 9, we will draw a winner from eligible respondents who correctly solve the puzzle. 
The prize, a Motoman baseball cap, will be sent to the lucky winner. 

XPRPXJT'Q TZK "ZDEZLR EJFFZRBGBTU" ZEF-QZLBZQ LPYPRQ

AJT EMXE ME SPML EJFFZRBGBTU ELPVMARBPT

Clues:  "E" in the puzzle = "P" in the solution phrase;
           "F" in the puzzle = "L" in the solution phrase