KUKA Robots

One plugin works for every KUKA model in BRW. It is the KUKA post processor: it recognizes the active KUKA arm and turns its simulated trajectory into a KRL program (.src and .dat), for a KR C4 / KR C5 or a KR C2 controller. Nothing needs to be installed, and the computer does not need a network connection to the robot.

The axis speeds only decide how fast each motion of the program runs, so that it takes about as long as in the simulation. The override on the smartPAD or KCP scales them in every case. Other KUKA models whose name starts with "Kuka" are post-processed too, with slow generic speeds and a warning in the console.

1. Open BabaCAD Robotics Web and pick the KUKA model of your robot. With several arms in the scene, click the KUKA arm so it is the active one.
2. Import / Export → select the brw-plugin folder.
3. Build the posture queue and press Play full once, so BRW computes the trajectory. Check the motion on screen.
4. Press User Command 1 for a KR C4 / KR C5 controller, or User Command 2 for a KR C2. The plugin recognizes the model, checks every point against the robot's motion ranges and writes the KRL program as two files, .src and .dat. Chrome and Edge ask once for the folder (select your USB stick); Firefox and Safari save the files to Downloads. The files are named like BRW_KR16_C4_1008_1530.src.

1. On the smartPAD log in as Expert (Main menu → Configuration → User group).
2. Plug the USB stick into the controller's USB port.
3. In the Navigator select the .src and .dat files on the USB drive, Edit → Copy, open KRC:\R1\Program and Edit → Paste. On a KR C2 the commands are under File. KR C2 cabinets older than edition 2005 have no USB port; copy the files over the network there.
4. Select the program. In T1 hold the enabling switch and press Start. The robot first moves slowly to the start pose (BCO run, 10 %), then follows the simulated path.
5. Run the whole program in T1 with a low override before you raise the override or switch to T2 / AUT.

• A joint program: every point is PTP {A1 .., A6 ..} in degrees, in the KUKA convention. It does not use $TOOL or $BASE, so it runs the same whatever tool and base are selected.
• The simulated path is thinned to the points needed to stay within 0.05° of it, without motions shorter than the controller can blend (see below). The header of the program states the largest deviation. The points are approximated (C_PTP, $APO.CPTP = 10), so the robot moves without stopping.
• Every motion gets the axis speed (BAS (#VEL_PTP, %)) that makes it take about as long as in the simulation. A pause of the simulated arm becomes WAIT SEC, with an exact stop before it.
• Plain ASCII with Windows line ends, as both controller generations expect.
• If a point is outside the robot's motion range, no program is written and the console names the axis and the time.

KR C4 and KR C2 programs

Both use the same KRL commands. They differ in how the path is cut into motions: very short PTP motions cannot be blended within the controller's interpolation cycle and make the robot slow down or stop, and the KR C2 has less memory and computing power.

If a long path needs more points, the plugin thins it more coarsely and says so in the console.

DEF BRW_KR16_C4_1008_1530( )
;FOLD INI
  ...
  BAS (#INITMOV, 0)
;ENDFOLD (INI)
$APO.CPTP = 10
BAS (#VEL_PTP, 10)
PTP {A1 0.000, A2 -90.000, A3 90.000, A4 0.000, A5 0.000, A6 0.000}
BAS (#VEL_PTP, 12)
PTP {A1 -5.258, A2 -86.494, A3 88.247, A4 -1.753, A5 3.506, A6 7.011} C_PTP
...
WAIT SEC 1.00
...
END

Not included yet: external axes (a trajectory that moves a linear rail or rotary table is refused), and tool I/O, gripper or process commands. Add those in the program on the controller if you need them.

The plugin converts the simulator's angles to KUKA's axis values: KUKA = sign · sim + offset. It works from the simulator's own angles, so the joint mapping set in BRW does not change the program.

The BRW Home pose is the KUKA pose A1 0, A2 −90, A3 90, A4 0, A5 0, A6 0: upper arm vertical, forearm horizontal. KUKA's A1, A4 and A6 turn the other way round from the simulator's joints, so their sign is −1.