V+ 12.4 Release Notes

New Functionality

V+ 12.2 and later includes the new features and enhancements described in the following sections.

Collision Detection

A new capability for detecting collisions between the robot end-effector and static Cartesian obstacles has been added. V+ tests for collisions between the robot's tool tip (or its tool-mounting flange) and specified obstacles. This feature helps in modeling static obstacles such as fixed structural elements of the workcell.

V+ automatically detects possible collisions under the following circumstances:

• when planning the end point for a straight-line or joint-interpolated motion
• when executing a straight-line motion (but not during a joint-interpolated motion)
• when moving the robot in tool, world, or joint coordinates with the manual control pendant (MCP)

There are two groups of obstacles currently defined by V+: user and protected. You may define up to four obstacles in the workcell using the SPEC utility program. Rectangular solids (or boxes), cylinders, and spheres are valid obstacle shapes.

Protected obstacles are defined by the robot manufacturer.

NOTE: Collisions between other structural elements of the robot and an obstacle or between two robots are not detected.

When a collision is predicted, program execution stops or an error reaction occurs. If program execution stops, the MCP displays an *Obstacle collision* message and the system monitor displays *Obstacle collision detected*.

For information on defining obstacles in the workcell, see Defining Obstacles.

SPEC Utility Enhancements

The SPEC utility contains several enhancements and new features.

Version 12.2 and 12.3 Enhancements

• The ability to create user-defined obstacles in the workcell. See Defining Obstacles.
• The ability to load and save data using NFS. See Loading and Saving SPEC Data Through NFS.
• The ability to use a dedicated home sensor when calibrating an AdeptModules device. See Dedicated Home Sensor for AdeptModules.
• The ability to specify a manual mode envelope error limit, which allows the user to configure a smaller envelope error (that is, how far the motor is allowed to lag behind the commanded position) for motions made with the pendant. See Manual Mode Envelope Error Limit.
• The ability to create a custom point-to-point motion routine that will execute in place of the standard routine in SPEC. See Custom Point-to-Point Motion Routine.
• The ability to specify unique acceleration and deceleration percentages for the point-to-point move test during motor tuning. See Move Acceleration and Deceleration Percentages.

Version 12.4 Enhancements

• Users can now include a description of the contents of a SPEC-generated data file. See This Topic for details.
• Added new features to the frequency response tests and test menus:
  • Minimum Input Amplitude menu option
  • Linear spacing of input amplitudes
  • Display of amplitude used
  • Testing of multiple frequency bands
  • ASCII file export of test data

Support for the AdeptWindows Controller Board

Starting with version 12.4, an AdeptWindows Controller (AWC) board can be used as a system main processor or system coprocessor board in an Adept MV controller chassis.

NOTE: The AWC board has restricted functionality when used with V+ version 12.4, as compared to its use with V+ version 13.0 in an AdeptWindows controller.

Refer to This Topic for more details on using the AWC board with V+ version 12.4. Refer to Adept MV Controller User's Guide for V+ Version 13.0 and Later for details on using the AWC board for any V+ Version 13.0 and later.