Position

A place. Positions are the vocabulary a program is written in.

Waypoints

A plain position the robot passes through or stops at: an approach, a clearance point, a place to wait. Waypoints exist to shape a movement — around an obstacle, or into a rack from the right direction.

Object positions

Where a part is picked from. The recipe needs to know exactly where a box arrives, in what orientation, and how the tool should approach it.

Container positions

Where a container sits — the pallet station. The recipe computes every drop from it, so this is the position that calibration measures and corrects.

Editing a position

A position can be typed in, or taught by moving the robot there and capturing it. Typed is exact and repeatable; taught is honest about where things really are. Most cells use both: typed for what was designed, taught for what was built.

Positions belong to a frame. Put them in the frame of the thing they describe, and a station that moves takes its positions with it.