Using RoboDk to program a Omron TM robot
Written by Luke Ellacott
Updated at March 9th, 2023
Introduction
The Omron TM cobot has a number of ways it can be programmed. The most common programming method is using TM flow. Other methods that can be used include RoboDk offline programming and real time programming.
Pre-Requisites
Completed RoboDk simulation
Knowledge of Tm Flow
Full RoboDK license
Further Reading
The full RoboDk manual can be found here:https://robodk.com/doc/en/Getting-Started.html#Station
Refer to https://robodk.com/doc/en/Robot-Programs.html#GenerateProgram to generate the simulated program
Procedure
Step1- Generating program
On completion of the RoboDk simulation, the program will have to be generated for the TM controller to read.
To generate a program from a simulation:
- Select the program
- Select program=>Generate robot program (F6)
Step 2- Transferring program
There are two options for transferring the program to a TM controller. Using a USB drive or the 'listen' node
USB Drive transfer
Once the robot program has been generated, follow these steps to prepare the USB drive and transfer the file to the TM controller.
- Name the USB drive TMROBOT (important)
- Create a folder called TM_Export on root
- Create a folder in TM_Export with the generated program
- Within the previous folder, create a folder called Projects to save the ZIP programs in
Important
The name of the USB drive and the TM_Export folder are important. If the naming is not correct the files won't be read by the controller.
Loading program from USB
- Save the ZIP file created from RoboDK to the USB drive.
- In TMFlow select the main menu =>System =>Import/Export
- Select import and the zip program within TM_Export
- Select the tool and TCP that was created in RoboDk
- Check the 'Import from Project' tick
- Select the tools and program that are required and select 'import'
Info
If the same tool and tcp is being used on the robot as the RoboDk program, rename the programs tools to match.
Real time programming
Using the RoboDk driver for Omron TM allows for programs to be run directly from RoboDk on the TM robot.
Listen Node setup
Before setting the listen node, check the post processor which will communicate between RoboDk and tm flow.
By default the processor for Omron robots is called 'Omron' found under program => Add/Edit Post Processor.
The post processor can be changed, modified and loaded manually if required. The link highlights how to manually load the processor. https://robodk.com/doc/en/Post-Processors.html#PostProcessor
To connect the TM controller to RoboDk, a TMflow program using the listen node is required.
A similar program to the one below can be used to execute a program where the Cobot can be controlled automatically.
Communication setup
To communicate with TM flow, the following has to be setup in RoboDK.
- Select Connect=> Connect robot
- Enter the robot IP address
- Enter robot port 5890
- Right click program and select 'Send program to robot' (Ctrl+F6)
Warning
If the Cobot is in listen mode, the program will immediately start after uploading completes. Ensure the Cobot is at slower speeds to prevent any unexpected fast movements.