Set Up a User Frame with the Three Point Method on FANUC R-30iB

Open the user frame list

Press MENU, select 6 SETUP, press F1 [TYPE], then select Frames. Press F3 [OTHER] and select User Frame. The list shows frame numbers 1 to 9 with their X/Y/Z and comment fields.

Select the frame and switch to Three Point

Move the cursor to the user frame number line you want to set, then press F2 DETAIL to open that frame's setup screen. Press F2 METHOD and choose Three Point. The screen now shows Orient Origin Point, X Direction Point, and Y Direction Point, each reading UNINIT. To add a comment, move the cursor to the comment line, press ENTER, select the naming method, use the function keys to enter the comment, then press ENTER when finished.

Teach and record the three reference points

Cursor to each reference point in turn (Orient Origin Point, X Direction Point, Y Direction Point). Stay in T1 with the deadman/enabling device held and the cell clear, jog the robot to the position you want to record for that point, then hold SHIFT and press F5 RECORD. After each point is recorded the screen shows RECORDED for that item.

Confirm the three points read USED

When the three reference points are taught, the items change to USED and the frame X/Y/Z/W/P/R values are shown. USED means the user frame has been set. Before then, a recorded point reads RECORDED.

MOVE_TO a recorded position and inspect point data

Stay in T1, hold the deadman/enabling device, and keep the cell clear. To move the robot to a recorded position, hold SHIFT and press F4 MOVE_TO. To inspect a point's data, cursor to a reference position item and press ENTER for the position detail screen; PREV returns you back. Press PREV again to see the frame values in the list.

Caution: Keep a hand near the E-stop before triggering MOVE_TO.

Activate the frame with SETIND

On the user frame list screen, press F5 SETIND and enter the frame number to make that frame effective. If you skip SETIND, the frame you just taught won't take effect. To select the number of the coordinate system to use, the jog menu can also be used.

Caution: Cartesian-taught positions shift when the active user frame changes. Joint-taught positions are unaffected.

Handle unreachable positions on 4- and 5-axis robots

If you are using robots with fewer than 6 axes (4- or 5-axis), pay attention to these points. If positions of a TP program were edited by entering numeric values directly, the positions may become unreachable and the robot won't move; in that case correct the rotating angle (w, p, r) by Direct List Method. Reference-position deviation can leave an unintended slope (W/P non-zero and less than 1.0 when you expected zero). If the user frame was created or changed after a TP program exists, positions of the TP program may become unreachable and the robot won't move; in that case stay in T1 with the deadman/enabling device held and the cell clear, then re-teach those positions with TOUCHUP.

Save the frame data to external storage

After the coordinate systems are set, back up the setting information to external storage so it can be reloaded if needed. Otherwise the current settings are lost when they're next changed. To delete set frame data, move the cursor to the desired frame and press F4 CLEAR.