RobotScript(ID:7478/)Scripting language for robotsRobotic Workspace's universal scripting language for the URC (Universal Robotics Controller) References: Introduction The flexibility of a robot system comes from its ability to be programmed. How the robot is programmed is a main concern of all robot users. A good mechanical arm can be underutilized if it is too difficult to program. The introduction of the Universal Robot Controllerä (URC) has made the possibility of a standard, easy to use, robot programming language a reality. The URC is an open-architecture, PC-based robot controller. It will work with virtually any robot and gives the user increased flexibility and capabilities over the standard OEM controllers. The URC uses Windows NT as its operating system. This allows the user to connect the robot controller to a enterprise-wide network for data logging, program back up, or other communications tasks. Since any Windows NT-compatible software will run on the URC, running third-party software for Statistical Process Control (SPC), Management Execution Systems (MES), or the development of custom software is now possible. Along with the ability to run existing manufacturing software, the Universal Robot Controller is the ideal platform for a universal robot programming language, RobotScript. It allows one robot language to run all the robots in a factory. Before starting the development of RobotScript, a survey of the existing robot programming languages was undertaken. Extract: Problems with language obsolescence Language does not radically change over time. This is probably the biggest problem with robot programming languages. Robot manufacturers constantly obsolete their existing languages when they introduce new generations of robot controllers. Learning any programming language is a significant investment in time. Once a user has learned a particular language, they will want to use it as much as possible, and for as long as possible. Some companies have even standardized on one robot manufacturer so that they can gain this benefit. Unfortunately, the robot companies do not help their users when they change their language with each successive controller. ABB did this when they changed from the S3 controller, which used a language called ARLA, to the S4 controller, which uses a language called Rapid. These two languages are significantly different, meaning anyone who knows ARLA will have to start over to learn Rapid. Motoman also did the same thing when they released the MRC controller. Their previous controller, the ERC, used a language called Inform. This was quite different from the language found on the MRC controller, Inform 2. Although both languages share the same name, they are radically different, once again requiring their users to learn a new language. Probably the most stable robot language has been Fanuc?s KAREL. This language has changed little since it was introduced. However, a robot could not be programmed with KAREL from the teach pendant, so Fanuc introduced another language that was specifically designed to be used from the teach pendant, TPP. The introduction of TPP essentially made KAREL obsolete, because it was easier to write a program using TPP than KAREL. Although KAREL can still be found on current Fanuc controllers, it is now rarely used. There is no need for robot languages to change this radically or this frequently. Computer programming languages remain viable for many years, because the languages are gradually changed over time. This lets current users learn only a few new commands at each revision, instead of starting completely over each time. |