Tool

What the robot grips with, mounted on its flange.

Jaws and opening

Describe the tool as it is: its shape, and how it grips. The opening is what the robot commands to take and release a part, and the software uses it to know when a part is held.

Today the shipped tools are suction; mechanical jaws and cylinder grip are on the roadmap.

The TCP

The Tool Centre Point is the exact point the robot positions — usually the middle of the gripping face. It is the single most important measurement in the project: every position is relative to it, so a TCP that is 5 mm out puts every box 5 mm out.

Measure it, do not estimate it. If the stack is consistently offset in one direction, suspect the TCP before anything else.

Payload

The mass the tool carries, and where that mass sits. The robot uses it to decide how hard it can accelerate. Too low and the robot moves aggressively with a heavy box; too high and it crawls for nothing.

The operator confirms the payload at start-up, because no sensor can tell the software whether the tool is currently holding something.

Gripping several parts

A tool can be described as taking more than one part at a time. The recipe then places them as a group, which is what makes a fast cell fast — but every part in the group must be reachable in one motion, so it constrains the pattern.