Starting the cell

Before anything moves

Check that nobody is inside the fence and that every guard is closed. The software cannot see people. Starting a cell is a decision you make about a machine that is about to move on its own.

Before you start

• The fence is closed and nobody is inside.
• A pallet is present on at least one station, and it is the right one.
• The robot controller is in AUTO with remote mode enabled. If it is not, the screen says Robot not in remote mode and Start stays disabled.

Initialising

A cell that has just been powered on, or that was aborted, must be initialised before it can run. The screen walks you through it step by step; you cannot skip a step and you cannot get them out of order.

Confirming the payload

Initialisation asks one question you must answer honestly: is the tool empty, or is it holding a part?

The robot has no way to know. Your answer decides how it will move — a robot that thinks it is empty while holding a box will move as if it were light, and a robot that thinks it is loaded while empty will move slowly for nothing. If you are not sure, look at the tool.

Going to HOME

Once the payload is confirmed, the robot returns to its HOME position. It moves slowly and on a checked route. If it is already at HOME, this step passes immediately.

If the robot cannot reach HOME — it is against something, or in a position the trajectory does not cover — the screen offers the manual options described in Moving the robot by hand.

Starting production

With the cell Ready, choose the recipe (see Choosing a recipe and a target) and press Start. The cell picks up where the recipe says, not necessarily at layer one: if a pallet was half full when the cell stopped, it carries on filling it.