Frames and tool offset

The parameters that set where the robot stands and where its tool point is, and the user frames that shift a motion program.

2 minute read

This page covers the frame parameters in the tree, and the user frames that shift a motion program. The conventions behind the values, right-handed frames and poses written as [x, y, z, rz, ry, rx], are explained in Definitions.

Frame parameters

Each frame is placed in the one before it, from the world down to the tool. The red arrows are parameters you can set; the dashed arrow is the robot’s own motion. Under each frame is the parameter that reads back its pose in the world. Paths are relative to root/ManipulatorControl/.

Parameter	Kind	What it is
`mechanism/frames/origin`	setting	An extra frame between the world and the robot base, for example a platform the robot stands on. Zero by default.
`mechanism/frames/base`	setting	The robot base, seen from the origin frame.
`mechanism/frames/baseGlobal`	read-only	The resulting base pose in the world: origin, then base.
`mechanism/tool/tippose`	setting	The tool tip seen from the flange, from `mech/mech-parameters.xml`.
`mechanism/frames/toolOffset/input`	setting	An extra offset on top of the tool. A change fades in over `toolOffset/fader/fadeTime`.
`mechanism/frames/toolOffset/output`	read-only	The tool offset in use, while it fades.
`manipulatorFlangePoseActual`	read-only	The flange pose in the world.
`manipulatorToolPoseActual`	read-only	The tool pose in the world.

User frames

User frames shift where a motion program runs, without changing the program. There are two sets: world user frames move the programmed poses in the world, and tool user frames move the tool point the program drives. They apply to Cartesian moves in automatic mode.

Each set has Frame01, Frame02 and so on, under userFramesWorld/ and userFramesTool/. How many there are is set by UserFrame in the application’s config.json; the standard configuration has three of each.

Parameter	What it is
`FrameNN/enable`	Switches the frame on. The shift fades in over `FrameNN/Switch/fadeInTime` (5 s in the standard configuration) instead of jumping.
`FrameNN/referenceFrame`	The frame the shift is expressed in, for example a fixture’s frame.
`FrameNN/offsetFrame`	The shift itself, seen from the reference frame.
`FrameNN/outputFrame`	Read-only: the reference frame with the shift applied.

For example, when a fixture has moved 5 mm along its own X axis, set referenceFrame to the fixture’s pose and offsetFrame to [0.005, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], then enable the frame. The program follows the fixture.

Next: Set the joint jog limits.