Warning

You are reading the documentation for an older Pickit release (2.4). Documentation for the latest release (3.4) can be found here.

Fanuc Pickit interface

This article documents the interface of the Fanuc Pickit integration. For installation instructions, please refer to the Fanuc installation and setup article.

Pickit macros

Below you find an overview of the macros defined by Pickit.

Tip

The macros can be assigned to hotkeys on the teach pendant. This is done in MENU > SETUP > Macro.

Socket communication macros

These are all the macros used in the socket communication between the robot and Pickit. For more details on these macros, refer to Pickit socket interface.

Macro name	Comment	Input arguments
PI_BUILD_BACKGROUND	Build the background cloud used in Advanced filters.	/
PI_CALIBRATE	Trigger a detection of the robot-camera calibration plate.	/
PI_CAPTURE_IMAGE	Trigger Pickit to capture a camera image to be used by a following PI_PROCESS_IMAGE command.	/
PI_CONFIGURE	Load the specified setup and product Configuration.	setup, product
PI_DETECTION_WITH_RETRIES	Repeatedly trigger a Pickit object detection as long as nothing is found and the ROI is not empty, up to a number of attempts.	retries
PI_GET_PICK_POINT_DATA	Request the pick point ID and pick point offset of the last requested object.	/
PI_LOOK_FOR_OBJECT	Trigger a Pickit object detection using the currently active setup and product Configuration.	/
PI_NEXT_OBJECT	Request the next detected object.	/
PI_OPEN_COMMUNICATION	Starts the socket communication with Pickit.	/
PI_PROCESS_IMAGE	Trigger an object detection on the camera image that was previously captured via PI_CAPTURE_IMAGE command (or PI_LOOK_FOR_OBJECT).	/
PI_RUN	Check the current mode of Pickit.	/
PI_SAVE_SCENE	Save a Snapshots with the latest detection results.	/
PI_WAIT	Wait for Pickit reply with detection results. PI_WAIT should always be the next Pickit command after a PI_LOOK_FOR_OBJECT, PI_NEXT_OBJECT or PI_DETECTION_WITH_RETRIES request.	/

Helper macros

Other macros not directly communicating with Pickit are also available to simplify the pick and place programming.

Macro name	Comment	Input arguments
PI_SET_PICK_POSE	Get the current configuration of the robot. This is used as base configuration for calculated pick positions.	/
PI_SET_OFFSET	Create the pose resister in PR[PR_id] with all elements set to 0 except Z set to Z_offset. It is useful to create pre and post pick offsets.	Z_offset, PR_id
PI_REACH	Check if `PR[51]+tool offset PR[1]` (pre pick pose), `PR[51]` (pick pose) and `PR[51]+tool offset PR[2]` (post pick pose) can be reach by the robot. The tool and user frame active when calling the macro are used for the check (make sure they correspond to the one used for reaching the poses). See Example program for use.	/

Pickit registers

Below you find an overview of the variables used by Pickit. When using Pickit these variables cannot be used for anything else. More information about the variables can be found in Pickit socket interface.

Variable	Field name	Comment	Type
R[141]	command	command from robot to Pickit	Output
R[142]	setup	setup file ID known by the Pickit system	Output
R[143]	product	product file ID known by the Pickit system	Output
R[144]	retries	maximum number of retries for a Pickit detection	Output
R[149]	comm status	used to check if socket communication is running	Input
R[150]	object status	Pickit status of the object: OBJECT_FOUND, NO_OBJECTS, NO_IMAGE_CAPTURED or EMPTY_ROI	Input
R[151]	status	Pickit response to previously received robot commands	Input
R[152]	obj age	amount of time that has passed between the capturing of the camera data and the moment the object information is sent to the robot	Input
R[153]	obj remaining	number of remaining objects that can be sent in next messages to the robot	Input
R[154]-R[156]	obj dim 1-3	[0]: length or diameter (mm) [1]: width or diameter (mm) [2]: height (mm)	Input
R[157]	model id	for a Teach detection, ID type of the detected object for a Flex/Pattern detection, the object type of the detected object	Input
R[158]	pick id	ID of the pick point that was selected for the given object	Input
R[159]	pick ref id	ID of the selected pick point’s reference pick point	Input
R[160]	reachability	Set by PI_REACH to 0 if pre pick, pick and post pick pose are reachable	Output
PR[51]	pick pose	object pose expressed relatively to the robot base frame	Input
PR[52]	pick offset	pick point offset of the last requested object	Input
PR[53]	x rot	helper pose to calculate a correct offset pose	Internal

Tip

If these registers are already used on your robot, please contact us at support@pickit3d.com, and we will assist you in finding a solution.

Using pick offset in a robot program

To use the pick offset in a robot program, first a fixed pose has to be taught. Then the offset can be applied to this fixed pose to correct from picking with an offset. Following example shows how the pose drop off is corrected: J P[3:drop off] 100% FINE Tool_Offset,PR[52:pi pick offset].

Low level reachability check

The reachability check is performed by a low level karel program implemented by Pickit, namely PICKIT_REACH. Advance users can directly use it (see documentation below).

PICKIT_REACH (pr_id, offset_id)

Check reachability of  "PR[pr_id], Tool_Offset, PR[offset_id]"
Note, currently active uframe and tool are used

tp_param[1]:          input: pr_id , Id of the PR to check the reach
tp_param[2]:          input: offset_id, Id of the tool_offset to add to the pose (OPTIONAL)

Returns results in R[160], 0 if rechable, 1 otherwise