A teach pendant, also known as a teach programmer or teach pendant box, is a handheld device used for manual operation, programming, parameter configuration, and monitoring of a robot. It is a core component of the robot control system and is a device used to register and store mechanical movements or process memories. This device is executed by an electronic system or computer system.
Industrial robot teaching involves programmers using various teaching methods to "inform" the robot in advance about the actions and tasks it will perform. This information mainly falls into three categories:
1. Robot position and attitude information, trajectory and waypoint information, etc.;
2. Information such as the sequence of robot tasks;
3. Information such as robot movements, additional conditions during operation, robot movement speed and acceleration, and operation content.
Question 1: Are teach pendants from different manufacturers interchangeable?
Answer: No!
Industrial robots are controlled by controllers and connected to teach pendants with buttons and touch screens via 5-8 meter long cables. This requires that the systems, algorithms, and software of the teach pendant and the robot be compatible with each other in order to form a closed-loop adaptation.
In reality, each company has its own logic programming, and different brands of products will have different systems and software. For example, common system programming languages include C++, Windows, ST, etc. Industrial robots from different brands do not communicate with each other.
This has resulted in different brands of industrial robots not being able to use the same teach pendant.
Question 2: Are teach pendants interchangeable within the same product series?
Answer: Not necessarily.
Every company goes through product iteration, system iteration, and software iteration. If the system or software is upgraded, the communication between different versions of the product may be incompatible. For example, the two systems, Windows 2010 and Windows 2000, will be incompatible, and the products of different systems will not be able to share the teach pendant.
In addition, products manufactured by the same company may use multiple operating systems and software, which are generally incompatible with each other.
There is one exception that can achieve universality, but it requires special development by the original manufacturer, which would be a considerable expense for users, making it not worthwhile.
Question 3: Is it possible to do without a teach pendant?
Answer: Yes.
There are several teaching methods for industrial robots, including direct teaching, remote teaching, and indirect teaching. Teaching pendants are just a common method; other methods can also be used, such as directly inputting parameters via a computer.
Many specialized devices that integrate the Scara robot no longer require a teach pendant. For example, specialized devices for CCD inspection integrate the Scara robot with visual assistance, allowing for teaching via a computer.
Question 4: Can the robot be controlled directly using offline programming software?
Answer: Yes.
This type of solution is most common in welding lines. In scenarios with many robots, such as automobile manufacturing, debugging each robot individually using a teach pendant would be very inefficient. In such cases, pre-written programs are typically imported into each robot to quickly set parameters.
Of course, to prevent any unexpected situations, the teach pendant will also be carried with you.
Question 5: Is it possible for multiple robots to share a single teach pendant?
Answer: Yes.
As long as the robots are compatible devices, it is possible to use one teach pendant to enable multiple devices to share the same space.
However, from a management perspective, if a production line malfunctions, having only one teach pendant will cause significant trouble in troubleshooting. With only one teach pendant, the parameters of each robot must be looked up on a computer, which is very inconvenient. However, if each robot has an independent teach pendant, troubleshooting can be done simply by checking the parameters in the corresponding teach pendant, which is very convenient and fast.
Otherwise, it will affect the company's production efficiency, which would be counterproductive.
