workspace lt quick start guide

Workspace LT Quickstart Guide 1

Workspace LT 1.1 Quickstart Guide

Introduction The purpose of this quickstart guide is to enable a new user to quickly familiarize themselves with the basic features and functions of Workspace. The most important parts are described as you are walked through, step by step, the usage of several common features. This guide applies equally to both the Demo and Full versions of Workspace LT. The only difference for the Demo version is that you cannot save any files, and there is no robot track import/export capability. See the User Guide for detailed limitations of the Demo version. This guide assumes that you have already installed Workspace LT on your PC, if not, please see the Installation Readme file which is located on the Installation DVD-ROM along with this document and Workspace LT. As you work through each of the following steps in sequence, you will create a robot cell which will weld along the outer edges of a simple box. The appearance of Windows and Dialog boxes on your system may differ slightly from what is shown here depending on the version of Windows you are running.

Getting Started Once you are logged into your account on a PC with Workspace LT installed, the next step is to start Workspace LT. There are 3 ways to do this:

1. You can double click on the Workspace LT icon which should be located on your desktop:

2. Or, you can use the Start menu (Start -> Programs -> Workspace LT -> Workspace LT):

2 Workspace LT Quickstart Guide

3. Or, you can browse to a directory that already contains a workspace file (with the file name ending in the extension .WSLT) and simply double click that file icon:

For the purposes of this guide, using either method 1 or 2, start up Workspace.

Program Screen Layout

Once you have started Workspace LT, you should see a screen similar to below:


The Workspace window is comprised of 4 key areas:

The Menu/Icon area, the top of the window consists of standard menu pulldowns starting with the familiar ‘File’ and ending with ‘Help’, through which you can select any of the commands or actions you wish to use. Many of these commands/actions can be directly selected by clicking on the icons directly below the menu:

The Status Bar, at the bottom of the Workspace window, where object and model information are displayed:

The Project Window, which has 1 tab, Simulation, which provides a graphical organization of the various components of the simulation, and by clicking on them, the means to manipulate them:

The final, and primary area of intrest, is the Main window, where the direct graphical view of the model is displayed:


Adding a robot to the project When you first open Workspace, by default a blank project is already created for you. You can also create a new project by using the File -> New Project menu pick to create a new, blank project.

In this case, we will just use the empty project that is already present when we started Wokspace. Now you will insert a robot into your project. Select File -> Insert Project … An ‘Open’ dialog box will appear. Browse to the directory Documents -> Workspace LT -> Robots -> ABB. Now click on the file ABB IRB2400.WSLT. Click on the ‘Open’ button. (note: Windows XP and 2000 users: substitute ‘My Documents’ for references to ‘Documents’ directory in this Quickstart Guide. The default user directory is “Documents’ for Windows Vista and 7).

An ABB robot will be inserted into your project. However you may not be able to see all of it due to the view being too close, or too far away. Click on the ‘Zoom To Fit’ icon in the top section of the Workspace window to get a better view. You can also adjust the zoom by scrolling the mouse wheel up or down, and position by pressing the mouse wheel down and dragging the view around. Your screen should now look something like this:

Saving Projects If you have the full version of Workspace, you can save your project at any time by using the File -> Save Project menu similarily to any other Windows program.


Manipulating the Robot Now you are going to move the robot. To do this, you need to use the pendant. In Workspace, the pendant is a window which provides controls to allow you to move the robot in various directions manually, in the same way the physical pendant on a real robot does. To display the pendant use the menu pick Pendant. The following window will appear:

The 6 upper controls, labeled 1 through 6, control the individual robot joints. The lower 6 controls, labeled X through C, move the robot in absolute space, ie. The control labeled S controls the arm configuration. Moving up or down in Z will cause multiple joint to move as necessary to make the end of the robot arm move straight up or down in the Z direction. Using the up/down arrows, try moving the robot to different positions. When you are finished, click the ‘Joint Zero’ button to return the robot to its original position. Click on the button in the upper right corner of the Pendant to close it.

Attaching a Tool to the Robot

Now you will load and attach an arc welding torch to the robot. Using the menu, select Edit->Edit Tools->Load & attach tool. The Open dialog will present files in the last folder in which you opened a file, which in this case, was the ABB robot

directory. You will need to navigate back up 2 directory levels (using ), to where you will see a folder named ‘Tools’. Browse into the Tools -> Tregaskiss Weld Guns folder and select the file AC45.WSLT. Click on OK. You will be presented with a dialog boxing asking you to confirm attachment of the AC45 tool to LINK6 on the robot. Click ‘Yes’. The arc weld gun will now be mounted on the end of the robot arm.

Creating Geometry

Now that you have a robot, and have attached the arc weld gun (it is important that the gun be attached BEFORE doing the next steps), it is time to create a table and a part to be welded.


Workspace has the basic functionality of any CAD software, that is the ability to create CAD entities or geometry. In many case you will import previously created CAD geometry from other CAD packages, such as AutoCAD, or from your suppliers or customers. While Workpace provides the capabilities to create arbitrarily complex and detailed objects, in this case we will create a simple box for a table, and a simple box for a part.

First we will create the table. Press the letter ‘I’ key to set the insertion point for the table. Enter the values shown for X, Y, and Z and click ‘OK’.

Click on the ‘Create box’ icon from among the create shapes icons

. Click on ‘OK’ to accept ‘BOX3’ as the name for the new object.

Enter the values shown to define the dimensions of the new object and click ‘OK’.

The numbers shown create a box 700 mm long by 700 mm deep, by 1000 mm high, with centre of its bottom face located at X = 1200 mm, Y = 0 mm and Z = 0 mm. (Note that the centre of the robot base was inserted at X = 0, Y = 0, Z = 0).


You should now see a display something like this (green is the default colour of new entities, but you can change it), Click on the ‘Zoom To Fit’ icon if necessary to get everything into view:

Press the letter ‘I’ key to set the insertion point for the part. Enter the values shown for X, Y, and Z and click ‘OK’.

Click on the ‘Create box’ icon from among the create shapes icons

. Click on ‘OK’ to accept ‘BOX4’ as the name for the new object.


Enter the values shown to define the dimensions of the new object and click ‘OK’.

The numbers shown create a box 300 mm long by 280 mm deep, by 80 mm high, with the centre of its base located at X = 1200 mm, Y = 00 mm and Z = 1000 mm. You should now see a display something like this:

The part you just created is on top of the table we created in the previous step. It is a little hard to pick out, so let’s change its colour. Double click on the smaller part we just created to select it. If you get the wrong part by mistake, just double click it again. With the top box selected, select the menu pick Edit->Edit Object->Colour. The following floating menu will display:


Click on ‘Colour of Object’. You will see the following dialog:

Click on the red colour box on the left, second down. Then click OK. Close the floating ‘Colour’ menu. Your display should now look like this:


Programming the Robot to Weld

Now you are ready to define some TPs (TeachPoints) and use them to program the robot to weld around the edge of the red box you created in the previous section. First, let’s zoom in to get as much detail in the area of intrest. Using your mouse wheel to adjust zoom and centering of the view, adjust your view to appear similar to the view displayed below:

Note that the top 4 vertices of the red box are visible, as well as the tip of the weld wire extending from the weld nozzle.

Now you need to create a new, blank robot track to record a program into. Right click on the ‘Tracks’ folder below ‘IRB2400_10’ in the Simulation View, and select ‘Add Track’:

Note: If you are running the Demo version of Workspace LT, and the ‘Add Track’ option is greyed out, then you must have mistakenly ‘Opened’ instead of ‘Inserted’ the ABB robot. If so, select File->New Project.. and start over at ‘Adding a robot to the Project’.


You will be presented with the following dialog box:

Click ‘OK” to accept the default values for Track Name and Langugage.

There is now a new track file listed in the Simulation View, ‘Track01.KL’. Right click on this track file and select ‘Set as Active’. Now we can record TPs (TeachPoints) for this track:

The Track File will become BOLD and a red check mark will highlight the fact that this track is now the active track:

A Robot (or Mechanism) in Workspace may have more than one track file, but only one may be active at any time. The ‘Active’ track file is the one that will execute when the simulation is run. Also, right clicking on the track and selecting


‘Set as Active’ when the track is already active will deactivate the track so that it will not run during a simulation.

In order to record TPs at the desired locations, we need to use a couple of floating menus, the Pendant, and the Turn CP menus. In the main menu, select ‘Pendant’, then select Edit->Edit CP->Turn CP. The two menus will now be visible. Using the mouse, move the menus so they do not block the red part or the end of the weld gun, resulting in a display similar to the view shown:

The first thing we need to do before actually teaching any TPs is tell Workspace what the ‘ToolFrame’ to use is. The ‘ToolFrame’ defines the position and orientation of the end of the tool (in this case weld gun). We want to direct the robot where to place the end of this tool, not the end of the robot face plate. To define the toolframe, double click on the end of the wire coming out of the end of the weld gun, until the CP (current position) indicator looks like this:

With the CP at the end of the WeldGun, click on the button in the toolbar to define the current CP as the ‘ToolFrame’.


Before we can record any teachpoints, we need to orient the CP in the direction we want the WeldGun to point. In this case, we just need to rotate the CP from its current orientation to point straight down. Using the Turn CP menu, this is easy, just click on ‘Approach vector down’ on the floating menu:

The CP should now look like this:

Now we can record the TPs. Using the mouse, click (single click only!) near as possible to the topmost vertex of the red box:


Now press and release the ‘V’ key. You will notice that the CP moves to the precise location of the nearest vertex, highlighted by a small box:

Now we can direct the robot to move to this position, click on the button in the toolbat, which will move the robot, using the toolframe we previously defined, to the CP:

Now all we need to do it click on the ‘Learn TP’ button on the pendant:

A dialog will display allowing us to confirm this position as a new TP and give it a name. Click on ‘OK’ to accept the default name of TP1:


The current position of the robot is recorded and displayed as TP1. Repeat this process (starting with clicking near a vertex) three more times, going clockwise, once on each remaining vertex of the red box, until you have defined 4 TPs as shown:

As the last step, click on ‘Joint Zero’ on the pendant to return the robot to home position. Adjust the zoom and centering as necessary to ensure you have a clear view of the wire sticking out of the end of the weld gun as you will need to define the toolframe once again.

Now you are ready to record a robot track. Right click on ‘Track01.KL’ in the simulation view and select ‘Record Track’:


The Pendant will automatically close. If you are not running the Demo version of Workspace, you will be asked to save the project before continuing, click on ‘No’ for now. The ‘Action Menu’ will appear, select ‘Begin’ on the Action Menu:

The Action Menu will change to reflect the additionally available options now that the track has been started, select ‘Variables’ on the Action Menu to display the ‘Variables’ menu.

Now, double click on the end of the wrie coming out of the end of the weld gun to set the CP at the correct position to define the toolframe:

Then click on ‘Place $UTOOL at CP’ on the Variables menu. This will cause a Karel 2 program line that defines the toolframe to be written into Track01.KL.You can now dismiss the Variables menu by click on the button in the top right corner of the variables menu.


Now you will record the movements to each TP, and turn the weld gun on and off. Click on ‘Robot Move Commands’ on the Action menu, a new menu displays (you may have to move the ‘Variables’ menu in order to reach the ‘Action’ menu beneath it):

Select ‘Move Home’ on the Robot Move Commands menu. This does not result in any visible movement because the robot is already at home position in this case, but it records a move home command in Track01.KL so we can be sure where the robot will start the weld program from. Next, click ‘TP move’. A floating dialog will display showing all the TP that we have recorded so far, select TP1:

The robot will move the weld gun to TP1, and a dialog will display asking you to confirm that this is the desired position, Click ‘Yes’ to accept:

After you click OK, the robot will execute the actual move from its current position to the new position.


At this point we would like the welding to start. Using the mouse, move the ‘Robot Move Commands’ menu out of the way so you can see the’Action’ menu. Select ‘Tool Actions’ on the ‘Action Menu’. This will display the ‘Tool Actions’ menu:

Click on ‘’ArcWeldOn’ and a command to turn the arc welding on will be recorded into Track01.KL. Click ‘OK’ twice to accept the default values for size and number of sparks. You will also notice that sparks are now visible at the end of the weld gun:

Using ‘TP Move’ on the ‘Robot Move Commands’ menu, have the robot move to each of TP2, TP3, TP4 and back toTP1 positions in turn. Once on TP1 again, select’ArcWeldOff’ on the ‘Tool Actions’ menu. The last move we want to record is back to the staring point of out program, click ‘Move Home’ on the ‘Robot Move Commands’ menu. The last step is to write the end command to Track01.KL and end recording the track. Click on ‘End’ on the ‘Action’ menu, you may have to move floating menus around with the mouse to reveal the ‘Action’ menu.


A dialog will appear informing you track recording has halted, click ‘OK’:

At this point you can dismiss the ‘Turn CP’ menu if you have not already.

You have just completed recording a track and several TPs. Let’s look at them. Right clisk on ‘Track01.KL’ in the simulation view and select ‘View TPs’. An editor window will open displaying the TP definitions:

Do not edit any of the text in this window, or you may break the TP definitions and prevent the program from running. Only highly experienced individuals should ever edit these values directly. There are better ways of changing defined TPs though the ‘Edit TP’ menu. For now just close this window.

Now, right click on ‘Track01.KL” again and select Edit, an editor window displays showing the program you just recorded:


For now, just close the program editor when you are finished looking at the code. Do not make any changes!

Now you can run the simulation you just created, click on the Run Simulation button on the toolbar and watch you part being welded.

If the simulation runs much too quickly or slowly, you can adjust the simulation

interval. Click on the Simulation Options button . You will see the following dialog:

Change the ‘Frame Interval’ to a higher or lower value to decrease or increase the number of pictures per second during simulation, then try running the simulation again.

Congratulations, you have just created a robotic welding cell and taught the robot to follow a path around a part.

Although in this introduction we used a robot and an arc-weld gun that were supplied with Workspace, it is also possible to create your own robots, as well as your own end of arm tooling. In fact your can create all manner of objects, automated machinery and mechanisms, complex tooling with moving parts, etc. Workspace is a very customizable application. You can also create complex interactions between multiple robots and mechanisms to simulate large, complex manufacturing lines. Full details for this are available in the User and Reference Manuals, available on the installation DVD, copies of which were also placed on your PC when you installed Workspace.

workspace lt quick start guide

Documents

workspace file

workspace window

version of workspace

open workspace

workspace lt quickstart

workspace lt icon

functions of workspace

versions of workspace